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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


^^NIVERSTTY  of  CALIFORi 
AT 
LOS  ANGELES 
UBRARY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/experimentalstudOObusw 


SOUTHERN  ERANCH 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

LIBRARY, 

iLOS  ANGELES.  CALIF. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  EDUCATIONAL  MONOGRAPHS 

Published  in  conjunction  with 

THE    SCHOOL    REVIEW    mj   THE   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   JOURNAL 
No.   17  December  1920 


AN  EXPERIMENTAL  STUDY  OF 

THE  EYE -VOICE  SPAN 

IN  READING 


S421     1 


AN  EXPERIMENTAL  STUDY  OF 

THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 

IN  READING 


By 

GUY  THOMAS  BUSWELL 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 

CHICAGO.  ILLINOIS 


49657 


Copyright  igao  By 
The  University  of  Chicago 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published   December  1920 


4  7  3  5 


B  F 


A- 


1^"^ 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

List  of  Figures 
List  of  Plates 
List  of  Tables 

fllAPTF.R 

I.  Introduction 

Problem 

Previous  Studies 

^  Apparatus  and  Method  of  Present  Study 

Subjects  Examined  in  the  Present  Study 

II.  The  Eye-\'oice  Span      .... 
^  Detailed  Statement  of  Method 

Units  of  Measure 

Reading  Selections  Used 

Explanation  of  Typical  Records 

Table  of  General  Data 
Analysis  of  Eye-Voice  Span 
s  Relation  to  Quality  of  Reading  Throughout  the  School 

Relation  to  Position  in  Sentence 

Relation  to  Reading  Rate 

Relation  to  Number  of  Fixations 

Relation  to  Regressive  Movements    . 
Summary  ot  Analysis  of  Eye- Voice  Span 

III.  Continuous  Relationship  of  Eye  and  Voice 

Method 

Explanation  of  Typical  Plates         .... 

Elastic  Nature  of  the  Eye- Voice  Span   . 

Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Length  of  Fixations 

IV.  The  Eye-Voice  Span  and  the  RECOG^^T^oN  of  Meaning 
^  Material  and  Method  Used      .        .        .  "     . 

Oral  Reading  of  Test  Passage  .... 

Silent  Reading  of  Test  Passage       .... 
The  Relationship  between  Oral  and  Silent  Reading 

Index  


Grades 


PACK 

vii 
ix 
xi 

I 
I 

2 

3 
7 

9 
9 
9 
9 

ID 
15 
17 
17 
41 
51 

53 
57 
62 

64 
64 
6S 

78 
79 

87 

87 

88 

95 
99 


LIST  OF  FIGURES 


FFGURES 


PAGE 


1.  Average  Eye-Voice  Span  by  Grades — ^Elementar>'  Subjects        .        .  i8 

2.  Average  Eye-Voice  Span  by  Grades — High-School  Subjects       .       .  33 

3.  Development  of  Eye-Voice  Span — All  Subjects     .       .       .       .       .40 

4.  Average    Eye-Voice    Span   by   Position   in    Sentence — Elementar>' 

Subjects 43 

5.  Average   Eye- Voice   Span   by   Position  in   Sentence— -High-School 

Subjects 47 

6.  Average  Eye-Voice  Span  at  the  Beginning,  Within,  and  at  the  End 

of  Sentence — All  Subjects 49 

7.  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Reading  Rate — Elementary  Subjects  52 

8.  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Reading  Rate— High- School  Subjects  54 

9.  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Reading  Rate — All  Subjects       .       .  55 

10.  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Average  Number  of  Fixations  per 

Line — All  Subjects 57 

11.  Relation   of   Eye- Voice   Span   to   Eye-Movements-Just-Preceding- 

Regressive-Movements — All  Subjects 61 

12.  Relation  of  Errors  in  Word  Test  Paragraph  to  Eye-Voice  Span        .  94 

13.  The  Development  of  the  Attention  Span  in  Reading   ....  100 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


PLATE 
I. 


II. 
III. 

IV. 

IVa. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXIa. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 


Location  of  Fixations  from  Film  Record  on  Lines  of  Print, 
Subject  Hs 

Selections  Used  for  the  Experiments 

Eye-Voice  Span  of  Subject  E12,  Poor  Reader,  Grade  IV 

Eye- Voice  Span  of  Subject  H2,  Good  Reader,  Freshman 

Plate  IV — Continued 


ce  Span  of  Subject  E2,  Good  Reader,  Grade  II 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E3,  Poor  Reader,  Grade  II 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E6,  Good  Reader,  Grade  III 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E7,  Poor  Reader,  Grade  III 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E9,  Good  Reader,  Grade  IV 
cp  Span  of  Subject  E13,  Good  Reader,  Grade  V 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E16,  Poor  Reader,  Grade  V 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E17,  Good  Reader,  Grade  VI 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E19,  Poor  Readei,  Grade  VI 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E22,  Good  Reader,  Grade  VII 
ce  Span  of  Subject  E24,  Poor  Reader,  Grade  VII 
ce  Span  of  Subject  H6,  Poor  Reader,  Freshman 
ce  Span  of  Subject  H14,  Good  Reader,  Junior 
ce  Span  of  Subject  H16,  Poor  Reader,  Junior 
ce  Span  of  Subject  H19,  Good  Reader,  Senior 
ce  Span  of  Subject  H24,  Poor  Reader,  Senior 
Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  Hi 

Plate  XXI — Continued 

Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  H5 
Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  H8 
Continuous  Eye- Voice  Relationship,  Subject  Hio    . 
Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  H22    . 


Eye-Vo: 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 
Eye-Vo 


II 
12 

13 
20 
21 

22 
23 
25 
26 

27 
28 

29 
30 
31 
35 
36 
37 
38 

39 
66 
67 
70 
71 
72 
73 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


PLATE 

XXVI.  Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  H23    . 

XXVII.  Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  A3 

XXVIII.  Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  Ei 

XXIX.  Continuous  Eye-Voice  Relationship,  Subject  E5 

XXX.  Effect  of  New  and  Difficult  Words  Upon  Eye-Movements 

XXXI.  Location  of  Long  Fixation  Pauses,  19  Subjects 

XXXIa.  Plate  XXXI — Continued 

XXXII.  Oral  Reading  of  Test  Passage  by  Subject  H13  . 

XXXIII.  Oral  Reading  of  Test  Passage  by  Subject  Ai 

XXXIV.  Oral  Reading  of  Test  Passage  by  Subject  A3     . 
XXX\\  Silent  Reading  of  Test  Passage  by  Subject  H3 

XXXVI.  Silent  Reading  of  Test  Passage  by  Subject  H7 

XXXMI.  Silent  Reading  of  Test  Passage  by  Subject  A4 


74 
75 
76 

77 
82 
84 


90 

91 
96 

97 


LIST  OF  TABLES 


TABLE 


PAGE 


I.  General  Data  for  Oral  Reading — All  Subjects  .        .        .        .16 

II.  Average  Eye- Voice  Span  by  Grades — Elementary  Subjects   .  17 

III.  Average  Eye-Voice  Span  by  Grades — High-School  Subjects  33 

IV.  Average  Eye- Voice  Span  by  Position  in  Sentence — •Elementary 

Subjects 44 

V.  Average  Eye-Voice  Span  by  Position  in  Sentence — -High-School 

Subjects 46 

VI.  Average  Eye-Voice  Span  at  the  Beginning,  Within,  and  at  the 

End  of  Sentence — All  Subjects 48 

VII.  Relation    of    Eye-Voice    Span    to    Reading    Rate— Elementary 

Subjects 52 

VIII.  Relation    of    Eye-Voice    Span   to   Reading    Rate — High-School 

Subjects 54 

IX.  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Reading  Rate— All  Subjects          .  55 

X.  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Average  Number  of  Fixations  per 

Line— All  Subjects 56 

XL  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Number  of  Regressive  Movements 

per  Line 5^ 

XII.  Relation  of  Eye- Voice  Span  to  Eye-Movements- Just-Preceding- 
Regressive-Movements — All  Subjects 6r 

XIII.  Elasticity  of  Eye-Voice  Span — Subject   Hi 78 

XIV.  Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Length  of  Fixations        ...  80 
XV.  Errors  in  Word  Test  Paragraph — Oral  Reading       ....  93 

XVI.  Relation  of  Errors  in  Word  Test  Paragraph  to  Eye-Voice  Span    .  94 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

PROBLEM 

In  oral  reading  the  eye  always  moves  at  a  greater  or  less  distance  in 
advance  of  the  voice.  For  a  mature  reader  the  eye  leads  the  voice  by 
a  wide  span,  which  at  times  amounts  to  as  much  as  seven  or  eight  words. 
The  immature  reader,  however,  such  as  a  pupil  in  the  primary  grades,  has 
a  very  narrow  span.  For  such  a  reader  the  eye  does  not  move  from  a 
word  until  the  voice  has  spoken  it,  and  reading  in  many  cases  consists 
merely  of  a  series  of  spoken  words.  The  eye-voice  span,  in  that  case, 
is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  A  simple  experiment  of  placing  a  card  over 
a  printed  page  and  uncovering  only  a  word  at  a  time  will  demonstrate 
the  situation  which  would  exist  if  the  eye  and  voice  were  kept  very 
close  together.  Interpretation  of  the  passage  is  difficult  under  such 
conditions.  An  eye-voice  span  of  considerable  width  is  therefore  neces- 
sary in  order  that  the  reader  may  have  an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  material 
read,  and  that  he  may  read  it  with  good  expression.  If  words  are  / 
encountered  which  are  spelled  alike  but  pronounced  differently  such  as 
"read"  (present  tense)  and  "read"  (past  tense),  the  correct  pronuncia- 
tion and  meaning  cannot  be  determined  in  many  cases  until  the  eye  has 
observed  the  context  by  looking  ahead.  A  still  further  need  for  a  wide  Q_ 
eye-voice  span  is  apparent  when  marks  of  punctuation  are  encountered. 
This  need  is  well  illustrated  by  the  reading  of  children  when  they  arrive 
at  a  question  mark  without  having  seen  it  in  advance  and  find  their 
vocal  expression  entirely  unprepared  for  it.  Their  failure  to  respond 
with  a  rising  inflection  of  the  voice  is  clear  evidence  that  they  were  not 
looking  ahead  and  that  they  were  not  getting  the  thought  in  large  units. 
The  eye-voice  span  is  of  real  significance,  therefore,  in  the  reading  process. 
In  the  diagnosis  of  difficulties  in  reading  a  measure  of  the  eye-voice  span 
often  affords  a  definite  basis  for  treatment.  Treatment  not  uncommonly 
involves  the  construction  of  definite  methods  of  teaching  which  will 
serve  to  increase  the  width  of  the  span.  The  purpose  of  this  study  is  to 
determine  more  fully  and  accurately  the  nature  of  the  eye-voice  span. 

The  problem  will  be  considered  in  three  divisions.  In  the  first  (a)  a 
study  will  be  made  of  the  differences  in  the  width  of  the  eye- voice  span 
in  the  different  grades  and  in  the  high  school,  and  (b)  the  variatign  in 
the  width  of  the  span  in  different  parts  of  the  sentence.     In  both  (a)  and 


2  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  RE.ADING 

(b)  the  results  will  be  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  separately  the 
characteristics  of  pupils  with  mature  and  immature  reading  habits. 
Following  this,  (c)  a  comparison  will  be  made  to  show  the  relationship 
of  the  width  of  the  eye-voice  span  to  rate  of  reading,  number  of  fixations 
per  line,  and  regressive  movements. 

In  the  second  division  (A)  a  very  detailed  analysis  of  eye-voice 
relationship  will  be  made,  which  will  show  the  exact  position  of  the  eye 
and  voice  at  each  eye-fixation  and  will  exhibit  the  variations  in  the 
width  of  the  eye-voice  span  in  the  reading  of  different  passages  by  a 
single  individual.  These  results  will  be  used  (b)  in  an  effort  to  explain 
the  cause  of  the  occasional  very  long  eye-fixations  which  appear  in 
reading  records. 

The  third  division  of  the  investigation  will  make  use  of  a  test  device, 
consisting  of  a  paragraph  containing  several  words  spelled  alike  but 
pronounced  differently,  by  which  the  eye-voice  span  in  oral  reading 
will  be  studied  in  relation  to  the  recognition  of  meaning  in  silent  reading. 

PREVIOUS    STUDIES 

Previous  to  this  time  the  subject  of  this  investigation  has  appeared, 
so  far  as  the  writer  can  discover,  only  twice  in  the  literature  of  experi- 
mental studies  of  reading.  In  1897  Quantz'  did  some  work  on  the 
problem  without  the  use  of  elaborate  apparatus.  His  experiment  was 
carried  out  by  quickly  slipping  a  card  over  the  page  while  the  subject 
was  reading  and  recording  the  number  of  words  spoken  after  the  view 
was  cut  off.  The  method  gave  results  which,  for  two  reasons,  are  not 
directly  comparable  with  those  of  the  present  study.  The  first  is  that 
the  method  did  not  record  the  location  of  the  eye's  fixation  at  the 
instant  the  view  was  cut  off,  but  recorded  the  number  of  words  which 
could  be  correctly  given.  In  ordinary  reading  material  more  words 
could  be  given  than  were  actually  seen,  by  simply  filling  out  the  content 
of  the  meaning.  This  would  cause  a  considerable  error  in  the  results 
which  might  have  been  partly  reduced  by  the  use  of  non-sense  material 
instead  of  the  meaningful  material  used.  The  use  of  such  material 
would,  however,  have  introduced  another  difficulty  due  to  the  fact 
that  non-sense  material  is  not  normal  reading-matter.  The  method 
used  by  Quantz  gave  an  apparently-  wider  eye-voice  span  than  actually 
existed.  The  second  factor  which  would  cause  a  difference  in  results 
from  those  of  the  present  study  is  that  by  Quantz's  method  the  num- 
ber of  words  recorded  would  include  all  which  were  seen  even  to  the 

'J.  O.  Quantz,  "Problems  in  the  Psychology  of  Reading,"  Psychological  Review 
Monograph  Supplement,  Vol.  11,  l<io.i.  1897.  Pp.  1-51.  Princeton,  N.J. :  Psycho- 
logical Review  Co. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

limits  of  the  perceptual  area,  while  by  the  method  of  this  investigation 
the  location  of  the  eye  is  recorded  at  a  point  within  the  fixation  area. 
This  again  operates  to  give  a  wider  span  for  Quantz's  study. 

Quantz  computed  the  correlations  between  eye-voice  span  and  rate 
of  reading  and  between  eye-voice  span  and  the  positions  in  the  line. 
He  found  a  high  correlation  between  reading  rate  and  the  width  of  the 
eye-voice  span.  He  also  found  that  the  span  depended  to  a  great 
extent  upon  the  point  in  the  line  at  which  the  view  was  cut  oflf.  He 
reports  an  average  span  of  7.4  words  at  the  beginning  of  a  line,  5.1 
words  in  the  middle,  and  3 . 8  words  at  the  end  of  the  line. 

The  second  reference  which  has  been  made  to  this  problem  is  found 
in  the  study  made  by  C.  T.  Gray^  in  1917.  Gray's  report  gave  seven 
plates  showing  the  readings  of  six  subjects,  one  from  the  seventh  grade, 
two  from  the  high  school,  and  three  from  college  students.  No  detailed 
analysis  of  the  records  was  made  and  no  correlations  were  given,  but 
his  conclusions  were  summed  up  in  the  statement  that  ''the  separation 
between  eye  and  voice  in  oral  reading  varies  from  individual  to  indi- 
vidual or  from  point  to  point  within  the  same  selection." 

With  the  exception  of  these  two  brief  references,  no  previous  inves- 
tigations appear  in  the  literature  canvassed  by  the  writer. 

APPARATUS   AND   METHOD    OF    PRESENT    STUDY 

The  apparatus  and  general  method  of  this  investigation  are  the 
same  as  used  by  C.  T.  Gray  and  other  investigators  in  the  Chicago 
laboratory.  They  are  fully  described  in  Gray's^  monograph.  One 
change  was  made  in  the  equipment  there  described.  The  hand-feed 
arc  lamp  was  discarded  and  a  new  three-wire  automatic  arc  was  installed 
in  its  place.  This  lamp  is  automatically  fed  by  a  magnetic  release  and 
has  the  advantage  of  producing  a  beam  of  light  of  constant  intensity 
and  at  a  constant  point  of  location. 

Without  describing  the  apparatus  in  detail,  it  may  be  well  to  describe 
in  general  the  method  of  this  investigation.  It  consists  of  photographing 
a  beam  of  light,  generated  by  the  arc  lamp,  reflected  first  to  the 
cornea  of  the  eye  from  silvered  glass  mirrors,  and  then  from  the  cornea 
through  a  camera  lens  to  a  moving  film.  The  pencil  of  light  changes 
its  direction  with  each  movement  of  the  eye.  The  subject  reads  and  a 
photograph  is  made  on  the  film  which  records  the  movements  of  the  eye 

'  C.  T.  Gray,  "Tj^pes  of  Reading  Ability  as  I^xhibited  through  Tests  and  Labora- 
tory Experiments,"  Supplementary  Educational  Monographs,  Vol.  I,  No.  5.  Chicago: 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  191 7.     Pp.  106-20. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  83-90. 


4  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

as  a  sharply  focused  line.  An  electrically  driven  tuning-fork,  with  a 
vibration  rate  of  fifty  times  per  second,  is  mounted  in  the  path  of  the 
beam  of  light  in  such  a  way  that  the  light  is  intercepted  at  each  vibra- 
tion. These  vibrations  produce  on  the  film  a  line  of  dots  rather  than  a 
solid  line,  each  dot  representing  a  time  of  exactly  one-fiftieth  of  a  second. 
Since  the  film  is  moved  continuously  in  the  vertical  plane,  the  record 
shows  a  vertical  line  of  dots  while  the  eye  is  fixated  in  a  single  position, 
and  a  short  horizontal  line  when  the  eye  is  in  motion  in  a  horizontal  or 
oblique  direction.  Vertical  movements  of  the  eye  are  lost.  A  second 
line,  the  head-line,  is  obtained  on  the  film  by  the  reflection  of  the  light 
from  a  bright  nickel-plated  bead  fastened  to  the  rim  of  a  pair  of  spectacles 
worn  by  the  reader.  This  line  shows  any  head  movement  which  may 
occur,  and  since  it  is  impossible  to  eliminate  all  head  movement,  this 
line  is  of  the  greatest  importance.  Every  eye-fixation  is  located  with 
reference  to  the  position  of  the  head-line,  and  by  this  means  correction 
is  made  for  all  head  movement.  This  brief  statement  of  apparatus 
and  method  may  be  supplemented  by  the  very  detailed  explanation 
given  in  Gray's  monograph.' 

The  method  of  determining  the  location  of  the  fixations  on  the  printed 
lines  from  the  film  record  has  not  been  adequately  described  in  previous 
studies.  This  part  of  the  technique  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  receive 
a  careful  explanation  here.  Plate  I  shows  the  film  record  for  the  first 
two  lines  read  by  Subject  H5.  On  this  plate,  line  xy  is  the  head-line 
made  by  the  reflection  from  the  metal  bead.  The  upper  part  of  the 
line  shows  little  head  movement,  but  the  lower  part  shows  such  move- 
ment very  distinctly.  Movements  of  the  head  such  as  occur  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  plate  would  cause  an  error  in  locating  fixations  of  as 
much  as  four  or  five  letters,  if  the  head-line  were  not  provided  for  cor- 
rection. Many  head  movements,  especially  for  children  in  the  lower 
grades,  are  much  greater  than  those  shown  by  this  subject. 

The  eye  record  made  by  the  light  reflected  from  the  cornea  is  shown 
in  the  lines  cd  and  ej.  The  line  cd  represents  the  reading  of  the  first 
line  of  the  paragraph,  and  the  line  ej  the  reading  of  the  second.  The 
vertical  lines  of  dots  show  the  fixations  of  the  eye.  The  horizontal  line 
de  shows  the  movement  of  the  eye  from  the  end  of  the  first  line  to  the 
beginning  of  the  second.  Since  each  dot  on  the  film  represents  one 
fiftieth  of  a  second,  this  movement  from  line  to  line  consumed  two 
fiftieths  of  a  second.  By  counting  the  dots  it  will  be  found  that  the  last 
fixation  of  the  first  line  took  nine  fiftieths  of  a  second,  and  the  one  just 
before  it,  twenty-three  fiftieths. 

'  C.  T.  Gray,  op.  cit.,  pp.  86-90;  106-20. 


INTRODUCTION 
PLATE  I 

Th  i   iw  >  dien  wete  seated  at  i  table  upon  -js-hlih 


many    books    and    jiapers    were    i scattered 


The 


Location  of  fixations  from  film  record  on  lines  of  jirint,  Subject  H5 


6  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAX  IN  READING 

The  points  a  and  b  on  the  plate  are  related  to  the  printed  matter 
read  by  having  the  reader  fixate  his  eyes  upon  a  dot  placed  just  above 
the  first  letter  of  the  first  line,  and  then  upon  another  dot  just  above 
the  last  letter  of  the  line.  The  fixation  for  the  first  dot  cannot  be  shown 
on  this  small  section  of  the  film,  but  the  point  a  lies  in  the  vertical 
extension  of  that  fixation.  The  point  h  lies  in  the  path  of  the  fixation 
on  the  second  dot,  a  few  dots  of  the  fixation  showing  just  below  b. 
The  distance,  therefore,  from  point  a  to  point  b  equals  the  distance 
covered  by  a  movement  of  the  eyes  from  one  end  of  a  line  of  print  to 
the  other,  and  all  fixation  movements  will  fall  on  the  film  between  lines 
extended  vertically  from  these  points.  If  the  film  were  further  enlarged 
until  point  a  rests  over  the  first  letter  of  the  first  line  and  point  b  over 
the  last  letter,  the  vertical  projections  of  the  fixations  would  fall  exactly 
over  the  letter  upon  which  the  eye  was  fixated  at  that  time.  For  the 
first  line  shown  in  the  plate,  the  first  fixation  would  fall  exactly  over  the 
first  letter  of  the  word  "two";  the  second  fixation  would  fall  exactly 
over  the  last  letter  of  "the";  the  third  fix<?tion  would  fall  exactly  over 
the  first  letter  of  "men";  etc.  It  was  by  this  method  that  all  of  the 
films  were  translated  into  positions  of  the  eye  on  the  printed  lines. 
The  film  was  run  through  a  stereoptican  projection  apparatus  which 
enlarged  the  record  on  a  screen  until  the  points  represented  on  the  plate 
by  a  and  b  exactly  coincided  with  the  edges  of  the  paragraph.  The  film 
was  then  wound  through  the  stereopticon  on  a  spool,  and  the  location 
of  each  fixation  marked  on  the  letter  over  which  it  passed.  The  length 
of  the  fixation  was  recorded  at  the  same  time  by  counting  the  dots  on 
the  film.  In  Plate  I,  the  fixations  are  connected  by  vertical  extensions 
to  the  line  connecting  points  a  and  b.  The  lines  drawn  from  these  pro- 
jections to  the  words  intersect  the  words  at  exactly  the  place  where  the 
fixations  would  be  located  if  the  film  were  enlarged  until  line  ab  was 
equal  to  the  width  of  the  printed  line. 

In  order  to  get  a  record  of  the  voice  the  photograph  was  supple- 
mented by  a  dictaphone  record  of  the  oral  reading  taken  for  all  subjects 
at  the  same  time  the  photograph  was  made.  The  speaking  tube  of  the 
dictaphone  was  placed  directly  in  front  of  the  reader's  mouth.  In 
order  to  record  the  exact  relation  to  the  eye-movements  on  the  film,  the 
speaking  tube  was  divided,  one  section  being  attached  to  a  box  contain- 
ing a  tap-bell  operated  by  an  electric  switch.  This  same  switch  also 
operates  a  camera  shutter  with  its  action  reversed  so  that  it  is  normally 
open  instead  of  closed.  The  shutter  is  placed  in  the  path  of  the  beam 
of  light  in  such  a  manner  that  when  the  switch  is  operated  quickly  the 
beam  of  light  is  shut  off  for  an  instant  and  the  bell  rings  at  the  same 


IXTRODUCTIOX  7 

time.  The  breaks  in  the  photograph  and  the  bell  signal  on  the  dicta- 
phone record  thus  make  it  possible  to  synchronize  the  operations  of  the 
eye  and  voice.  A  typical  interception  on  the  film  is  shown  in  a  short 
gap  in  the  film  line  in  Plate  I,  at  point  ^  on  the  eye-line  and  h  on  the 
head-line.  The  bell  records  a  sharp  click  on  the  dictaphone  wax  record 
at  the  same  time.  In  Plate  I  the  break  in  the  eye-line  occurred  during 
the  sixth  fixation  at  point  g.  This  point  on  the  printed  copy  falls  on 
the  third  letter  of  the  word  "seated."  The  dictaphone  recorded  the 
click  of  the  bell  at  the  same  time  that  the  subject  was  pronouncing  the 
word  "two."  This  means  that  when  the  subject  was  pronouncing 
"two"  his  eye  was  fixated  upon  the  word  "seated."  The  interval  from 
"two"  to  "sea'ted,"  as  marked  on  the  plate  by  a  dotted  line,  shows 
the  distance  that  the  eye  was  ahead  of  the  voice.  This  is  the  interval 
spoken  of  as  the  eye-voice  span.  The  eye-voice  span  could  be  deter- 
mined at  any  desired  place  in  the  reading  by  simply  pushing  the  switch 
key  at  the  time  the  subject  pronounced  that  particular  word.  This 
was  done  nine  times  in  the  reading  of  each  elementary  pupil,  and  eight 
times  during  the  reading  of  each  high-school  pupil.  The  wax  record 
gave  a  means  of  checking  the  movement  to  see  if  it  occurred  at  exactly 
the  place  desired.  If  it  should  occur  too  soon  or  too  late  the  dictaphone 
furnishes  a  means  of  correction. 

SUBJECTS  examinp:d  in  the  present  study 

Photographs  were  taken  of  the  readings  of  fifty-four  different  sub- 
jects selected  as  follows.  Two  good  and  two  poor  readers  were  selected 
from  each  of  the  elementary  grades  above  the  first,  on  the  basis  of 
scores  made  in  William  S.  Gray's  Oral  Reading  Paragraphs.  Three 
good  and  three  poor  readers  were  selected  through  the  co-operation  of 
the  English  department  and  the  high-school  principal  from  each  of  the 
four  high-school  classes.  Six  adult  college  students  were  selected  at 
random  and  ranked  into  two  divisions,  one  better  than  the  other.  The 
three  poorer  adult  subjects  were,  however,  fairly  good  readers.  The 
entire  group  of  subjects,  therefore,  included  twenty-four  from  the  ele- 
mentary school,  twenty-four  from  the  high  school,  and  six  college 
students,  each  grouping  being  made  up  of  equal  numbers  of  good  and 
poor  readers.  Great  care  was  used  in  the  selection  of  these  groups  in 
order  that  all  the  characteristics  of  the  subjects  might  be  known  in 
advance  so  as  to  clear  the  way  for  concentration  of  attention  during  the 
investigation  on  the  one  matter  of  the  eye-voice  span.  The  reading 
rate  of  all  subjects  was  taken  at  the  time  of  the  experiment,  using 
material  of  the  same  degree  of  difficulty  as  that  used  for  the  photograph. 


8  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SP.\N  IN  READING 

PLATE  II 

The  kitten  pulled  at  the  veil  and  wreath 
of  flowers  with  her  cunning  paws.  Little  by 
little  she  drew  them  to  the  ed^e  of  the  box. 
At  last  she  poked  her  head  ri^ht  through  the 
wreath,     but     she     couldn't     ^et     it      out      a^ain. 


The  two  men  were  seated  at  a  table  upon  which 
many  books  and  papers  were  scattered.  The 
older  man  turned  to  a  pa^e  in  a  lar^e  book  and 
be^an  to  read.  The  subject  of  the  chapter  w^as 
something  about  hypna^o^ic  hallucinations  and 
hyperaesthesia.  A  few  pa^es  further  on  he 
came  to  a  sentence  w^hich  read,  "One  thin^, 
how^ever,  is  obvious,  namely,  that  the  manner  in 
w^hich  \v^e  become  acquainted  w^ith  complex 
objects  need  not  in  the  least  resemble  the 
manner  in  which  the  original  elements  of  our 
consciousness  ^rew  up." 

Selections  used  for  the  experiments 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 

DETAILED   STATEMENT    OF    METHOD 

U7iits  of  measure. — Throughout  the  study  the  unit  of  time  measure 
is  one-fiftieth  of  a  second,  corresponding  to  the  vibration  rate  of  the 
tuning-fork  time-marker.  In  all  of  the  plates  shown  the  length  of 
fixations  is  given  by  the  row  of  figures  beneath  the  printed  line,  and  is 
recorded  in  units  of  fiftieths  of  a  second. 

The  unit  of  measure  for  the  width  of  the  eye-voice  span  is  one  letter- 
space.  The  term  "letter-space"  may  be  defined  as  the  space  taken  by 
one  letter  or  one  punctuation  mark,  or  the  blank  space  between  words. 
This  unit  is  an  arbitrary  one,  but  is  constant  throughout  the  study.  For 
the  selections  used  the  average  number  of  letter-spaces  per  word  is  five. 
Therefore  the  denomination  of  any  of  the  results  may  be  transposed 
from  letter-space  units  to  word  units  by  dividing  by  five. 

Reading  selections  used. — The  reading  selections  used  for  this  part 
of  the  study  are  reproduced  in  Plate  II  in  the  same  form  and  size  of 
type  as  used  in  the  experiment.  The  upper  selection,  taken  from  one 
of  the  Courtis  silent-reading  tests,'  was  read  by  the  pupils  selected  from 
the  elementary  grades.  This  paragraph  was  chosen  because  it  was 
desirable  to  use  a  selection  which  was  not  too  difficult  for  second-grade 
children,  but  could  be  used  also  for  the  pupils  of  the  five  higher  grades. 
The  paragraph  was  found  to  be  well  adapted  to  this  purpose.  The 
selection  used  for  the  elementary  pupils  was  necessarily  shorter  than 
that  used  for  high-school  students,  since  the  younger  children  read  more 
slowly  and  the  time  for  taking  the  photograph  was  limited  by  the  length 
of  the  film.  The  films  used  were  forty-two  inches  long,  and  in  passing 
through  the  camera  allowed  fifty  seconds  of  reading  time.  The  elemen- 
tary pupils  were  directed  to  "read  naturally  just  as  you  would  if  you 
were  reading  in  class  for  your  teacher."  From  all  objective  evidence 
the  pupils  did  read  naturally  and  were  not  disturbed  by  the  apparatus. 
The  subjects  from  the  second  grade  carried  out  the  experiment  fully  as 
well  as  those  from  the  higher  classes.     When  the  subjects  began  to  read 

'S.  A.  Courtis,  "The  Kitten  WTio  Played  ]\Iay-Queen,"  Silent-Reading  Test 
No.  II,  Form  I.     Standard  Research  Tests.     Detroit:  S.A.Courtis. 


lO  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SP.\N  IN  READING 

they  apparently  forgot  about  the  apparatus  and  centered  all  their 
attention  upon  the  reading. 

The  selection  shown  in  the  lower  part  of  Plate  II  was  used  for  the 
high-school  and  college  students.  It  was  constructed  with  three  pur- 
poses in  mind.  The  first  aim  was  to  provide  a  few  lines  of  easy,  normal 
reading-matter.  The  first  four  lines  provide  this.  The  second  purpose 
was  to  introduce  a  few  new  and  difficult  words  to  find  the  reaction  to 
that  kind  of  a  situation.  The  three  words  in  lines  five  and  six  were 
therefore  introduced,  and  were  found  to  be  new  to  all  of  the  high-school 
subjects.  The  third  aim  was  to  introduce  a  sentence  made  up  of  easy 
words  but  containing  a  difficult  thought.  The  last  sentence  in  the 
paragraph  taken  from  James'  Principles  of  Psychology,  satisfied  this 
requirement.  The  subjects  were  directed  to  "read  the  paragraph 
naturally,  just  as  you  would  a  newspaper.  If  you  meet  any  new  or 
difficult  words,  pronounce  them  the  best  you  can  and  go  on.  Try  to 
remember  the  thought  well  enough  so  you  could  tell  what  you  have 
read  if  asked  to  do  so."  The  introduction  of  the  three  difficult  words 
in  lines  five  and  six  caused  such  a  disturbance  of  the  eye-movements 
that  the  results  for  these  two  lines  are  entirely  omitted  in  the  table  of 
general  data  and  in  all  general  averages  given  throughout  the  study. 
The  difficulties  encountered  will,  however,  be  given  special  treatment 
in  the  next  chapter. 

Explanation  of  typical  records. — In  order  that  the  discussion  in  this 
report  may  be  more  easily  followed,  a  detailed  explanation  of  the  plates 
of  two  typical  subjects  will  be  given  here.  Plate  III  shows  such  a 
record  from  a  pupil  belonging  to  the  elementary  school  and  Plate  IV, 
one  from  a  student  in  the  high  school. 

Plate  III  shows  the  oral  reading  of  a  poor  reader  from  the  fourth 
grade.  The  short  vertical  lines  drawn  through  the  words  indicate  the 
points  of  eye  fixations.  The  serial  numbers  above  the  vertical  lines 
indicate  the  order  of  the  fixations,  while  the  numbers  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  lines  indicate  the  lengths  of  the  fixations  in  fiftieths  of  a  second. 
Referring  to  the  first  line  of  this  plate  it  will  be  seen  that  the  first  fix- 
ation fell  upon  the  word  "kitten"  and  that  the  eye  remained  there  for 
five  fiftieths  of  a  second.  The  subject  evidently  did  not  feel  sure  of  the 
beginning  of  the  line,  as  indicated  by  the  position  of  the  second  fixation 
which  fell  just  after  the  first  word  of  the  line.  The  eye  remained  fixed 
at  this  point  for  forty-nine  fiftieths  of  a  second.  The  third  fixation  was 
located  just  before  the  third  word  and  lasted  for  ten  fiftieths  of  a  second. 
The  succeeding  fixations  may  be  observed  by  following  the  upper  series 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 
PLATE  III 


II 


I., 


C    H  7  ^ 


The    kitton 


piilloc 


at 


he 


V| 

I 

I    f 


\  ei      and    ^v"re  itli 


-yf         5-  /(3 


Ji<5. 


lE 


V, fE 


I 
of    i" 


lowers 


JL       ^       3       i     lO 


S       f 


\\\i\\      ler 


cirnJiir^    palvvs.      TJt  h'    by 


£.  3 


/y       te      /I     1^      9 


ai 


s 


i      ? 


MiiU    sht 


drew     the 


111     to    the    edge 


n       s 

E 

—]  Vi >E 

I     I 


3f     he     box. 


^      -3- 


Vi lE 


I..   I 


3 


t  last    s  le    poked    her    head 


I         I 


^ 


sa. 


jc 


L'ifiht     th 


rough    the 


13  /S 


/i  /, 


jy 


i9 


V| ^E 

I      ^ 
wreith,      bu 


V, 5E 


r 


5        y 


^ 


she     couldn't     g<4     1t      out      again. 


Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E12,  poor  reader,  Grade  IV 


JZ  ij 


12 


A  STUDY  OF  THE   EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 
PLATE  IV 


V      ^     ^    f  f       f    A 


/O  II 


The  t^v^o 


iK^n  \v^e  re 


seated  at  a    able    ipon  M^hidh 


13        II  i    II  13       '¥  // 


/J-  7 


'    X. 


3  ^ 


many    books    and 


I-    \  7         ^  9 


pai>ers    w^ere    S(  mattered. 


3S 


'o  17 


The 


9  /c  <p  '9 


rE 


older  man  turned  to  a  pf ^o  in   a     ar^e  book  and 


■IH  IS      /.<-  cf 


//     ^ 


/J  '3 


^7 


H  S       xL 


be^anl  to  ijeacll.      Tlie    sikbjejct   of   the 


1^  7      ig  IL 


7         i 

chapter  ^v'as 


"i 


3  S      L      li     7  9     ^ 


13^ 


something 


about 


19 


hypnagogic 


halli  ic  ina  tioi  is   an d 


iL  If  10   2.1    IC    IS  7    //        9        /3 


13 


'        -^  3         H  \    ^     6 


7  M 


hyperf  est hesi  a. 


A     fe\^ 


pai^es 


f urtl  ler    on    he 


^o       /^        :l3     32.  y    S.0  /^  JL2. 

Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  H2,  good  reader,  freshman 


19 


came 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 

PLATE  IVa 

I  Jl  ^    3  s-  i      7         ^ 

r^liich 


to    a     sc 


la. 


ntcnoe     ^v 

7  ^~  /3.    7 


read,    "One 


13 

y      /c 
thing, 

/<3  '3 


I  9 

\4  X  7     ^ 


how^ever,  ls  ob^douh,  ]Taniel|>", 

17      i  3  J I  II    "^  IS 


h 


II      12-  13      1'^       1^ 


that  the  i  lanner 


111 


^?       >0 


/.?     IL 


V      'S 


A 


I         3 


^vhich     \V"e     pecpnie 

rE 

I 

I 
objects     need      lot     in 

.     3^  -z^  /-^ 


Vi 

I 

I 
acquaim  ed      w^ith      complex 


< 


y  ^L  S  7 


the     Jeast 


I 


resemble     the 


IH  7 


3      J     ^ 


manner 


/i 


in    ^v"h  ich    tie 


oj'i^inal 


^v 


/6      9     f 


elements   of 


/i 


oni 


/? 


//  S.O 


JL 


consciousness  gr<?^v"  iij) 


/9 


IS  I  <f 

Plate  IV — Continued 


14  A   STUDY  OF  THK   EYE-VOICE   SPAN  IN   READING 

of  numbers  in  order.  The  function  of  this  investigation  is  concerned 
with  the^  eye- voice  span  rather  than  with  the  nature  of  these  fixation 
pauses.  A  very  thorough  analysis  and  interpretation  of  eye-movements 
and  fixations  in  reading  have  been  made  in  another  monograph  of  this 
series.^ 

The  eye- voice  separation  is  shown,  for  several  typical  positions,  in 
Plate  III  by  a  bracket  of  broken  lines.  The  position  of  the  voice  is 
marked  by  the  letter  V  and  the  position  of  the  eye,  by  the  letter  E. 
Referring  to  the  first  line  of  this  plate,  it  will  be  seen  that  when  the  voice 
was  pronouncing  the  word  "kitten "  the  eye  was  fixated  on  the  last  letter 
of  the  third  word.  If  the  number  of  letter-spaces  included  in  the 
bracket  connecting  the  positions  of  the  voice  and  eye  are  counted,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  eye-voice  span  at  this  position  is  ii  letter-spaces. 
The  eye-voice  span  was  next  measured  at  the  end  of  the  first  Hne.  As 
the  voice  was  pronouncing  the  first  part  of  the  word  "wreath,"  the  eye 
was  fixated  on  the  first  letter  of  the  word  "iiowers"  in  the  next  line, 
making  an  eye-voice  span  of  8  letter-spaces  plus  the  time  consumed  in 
moving  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  line.  Likewise,  when  the  voice 
was  pronouncing  " paws "  the  eye  was  fixated  on  the  last  letter  of  "little,' 
making  a  span  of  9  letter-spaces.  In  the  last  line  of  Plate  III  the  voice 
was  pronouncing  the  word  "couldn't"  just  as  the  eye  was  moving  from 
the  fifth  to  the  sixth  fixation.  This  occurred  frecjuently,  and  in  such 
cases  the  span  was  measured  from  the  position  of  the  voice  to  a  point 
half-way  between  the  two  eye  fixations,  as  shown  by  the  branching  of 
one  arm  of  the  bracket  in  this  case. 

As  explained  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  operation  by  which  the 
positions  of  the  eye  and  voice  were  determined  was  controlled  by  an 
electric  switch.  It  was  therefore  possible  to  measure  with  exactness 
the  eye-voice  span  at  any  desired  position  in  the  paragraph  by  simply 
pressing  the  connection  at  that  point  in  the  reading.  For  the  sake  of 
comparisons,  nine  positions  were  selected  in  the  passage  read  by 
elementary  pupils.  These  positions  are  shown  in  Plate  III  by  the 
letter  V,  at  the  beginning  of  the  brackets,  which  occurs  just  above  the 
word  which  was  being  spoken  at  the  time  the  measure  was  taken. 
These  positions,  in  order  through  the  elementary  selection,  occurred  at 
the  words  "kitten"  and  "wreath"  in  Hne  i,  "paws"  in  line  2,  "drew" 
and  "box"  in  line  3,  "last"  and  "head"  in  line  4,  and  "wreath"  and 

'  C.  H.  Judd  and  others,  "Reading:  Its  Nature  and  Development,"  Supple- 
mentary Educalional  Monographs,  Vol.  II,  No.  4.  Chicago:  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1918. 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  1$ 

"couldn't"  in  line  5.  In  general,  the  measure  was  taken  at  the  time 
the  voice  was  pronouncing  the  first  part  of  the  word.  Any  variations 
from  this  were  checked  and  corrected  by  means  of  the  dictaphone 
record.  Two  of  these  positions  occur  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence, 
five  within  a  sentence,  and  two  at  the  end  of  a  sentence.  Also,  three 
occur  at  the  beginning  of  a  line,  four  near  the  middle  of  a  line,  and 
two  at  the  end  of  a  line.  The  location  of  the  positions  of  measurement 
in  this  way  makes  possible  not  only  an  analysis  of  the  eye-voice  span 
by  positions,  but  also  makes  a  uniform  distribution  from  which  the 
average  span  can  be  regarded  as  representati\e  of  the  paragraph  as  a 
whole. 

Plate  IV  gives  a  typical  reading  by  a  high-school  pupil.  The  plate 
shows  the  oral  reading  of  Subject  H2,  a  good  reader  from  the  freshman 
class.  The  method  of  indicating  fixation  and  eye-voice  span  is  the 
same  as  just  described  for  Plate  III.  In  this  paragraph  eight  positions 
were  selected  for  measuring  the  eye-voice  span.  These  positions,  in 
order  through  the  paragraph,  occurred  at  the  word  "two"  in  line  i, 
"scattered"  in  line  2,  "read"  in  hne  4,  "few"  in  line  6,  "obvious"  in 
line  8,  "complex"  in  line  9,  "least"  in  line  10,  and  "consciousness"  in 
line  12.  Two  positions  occurred  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence,  three 
within  a  sentence,  and  three  at  or  near  the  end  of  a  sentence.  The 
positions  are  also  distributed  according  to  position  in  the  line. 

A  question  may  arise  here  whether  an  average  eye-voice  span,  com- 
puted from  eight  or  nine  positions  in  a  paragraph,  is  an  adequate  measure 
of  the  general  character  of  the  span  for  every  word  in  the  whole  para- 
graph. In  chapter  iii  of  this  report,  a  complete  analysis  showing  the 
eye-voice  span  at  every  word  and  every  fixation  in  the  selection  will  be 
given,  and  a  comparison  will  be  made  with  the  results  obtained  from 
the  eight  and  nine  position  measures.  The  comparison  shows  a  small 
variation  in  the  average  span  obtained  by  the  two  methods. 

Table  of  general  data.- — In  Table  I  the  general  data  for  all  subjects 
are  shown.  The  elementary  subjects'  numbers  are  given  the  prefix  E, 
the  high-school  subjects  H,  and  the  adult  college  students  A.  The 
table  gives  the  subject  number,  school  grade,  quality  of  reading,  average 
eye-voice  span,  average  variation  from  the  average,  average  number  of 
fixations  per  line,  average  number  of  regressive  movements  per  line,, 
and  rate  of  reading  in  number  of  words  read  per  second.  This  table 
is  intended  only  for  general  reference,  summaries  being  given  in  later 
tables.  It  is  analyzed  in  detail  throughout  the  remainder  of  this 
chapter. 


i6 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


TABLE  I 
General  Data  for  Oral  Reading — All  Subjects" 


Subject 


Grade 


Quality 


Average 

Eye-Voice 

Span 


Average 
Variation 


Average 
Number 
Fixations 
per  Line 


Average 

Number 

Regressive 

Movements 

per  Line 


Rate  of 

Words 

per  Second 


Ei. 

E2. 

E3. 
E4. 

Es. 

E6. 
E7. 
E8. 


Eg.. 
Eio. 
En. 

E12. 

E13. 
E14. 
Eis. 
E16. 

E17. 
E18. 
Erg. 
E20. 

E21. 
E22. 
E23. 
E24. 

Hi.. 
H2.. 
H3.. 
H4.. 
H5.. 
H6.. 


H7.. 
H8.. 
Hg.. 
Hio. 
Hii. 
H12. 

H13. 
H14. 
His. 
H16. 
H17. 
H18. 

Hig. 
H20. 
H21. 
H22. 
H23. 
H24. 

Ai... 
A2... 
A3... 
A4... 

As... 
A6... 


II 
II 
II 
II 

III 

III 
III 

HI 

IV 
IV 
IV 
IV 

V 
V 

V 
V 

VI 
VI 
VI 

VI 

VII 

VII 
VII 
VII 

F 

F 
F 
F 
F 
F 

So 
So 
So 
So 
So 
So 

J 
J 
J 
J 
J 
J 

Se 
Se 
Se 
Se 
Se 
Se 

C 
C 

c 
c 
c 
c 


G 
G 
P 
P 

G 
G 
P 
P 

G 
G 
P 
P 

G 
G 
P 
P 

G 
G 
P 
P 

G 
G 
P 
P 

G 
G 
G 
P 
P 
P 

G 
G 
G 
P 
P 
P 

G 
G 
G 
P 
P 
P 

G 
G 
G 
P 
P 
P 

P 
P 
P 
G 
G 
G 


II. » 
10.3 
3-4 

7-4 


12. 


16.6 
4.0 
8.2 

ig.7 

13-9 

12.4 

7.0 

14. g 
8.g 


ig.8 
14.2 
13-3 
lO.O 

12.0 

12.4 

12.0 
IS-S 
16.0 
14. 1 
9.6 
13.8 

13.8 
17.7 
12.3 
8.5 
4.7 
11-5 

12.8 
23.0 


12.4 

12.2 
9-3 
13-6 
17.8 
20.3 
18.6 


2.5 
3-9 


2.6 
2.8 
3-6 


S-o 
7.5 


3-3 
5-0 


4.6 
i-S 
1 .1 
0.7 
2 .0 
3-5 

5-2 
5-0 
4.7 
3-S 
2.5 
2.0 

2.g 

4-2 

1.9 

2.4 

2.0 
0-5 


10.8 
9.0 


ig.7 
14.0 

7.8 

7.S 

II  .2 

9-4 

6.8 
9.6 
g.2 
11.8 

8.4 
7.0 


7.6 

8.4 


7.7 
g.6 
7.9 

lO.O 

10. S 
II. 9 

8.3 
8.1 
7.2 
8.3 
g.2 
8.3 


lo.g 
9.8 
9-3 

10.7 


7-4 
9.9 
g.g 
0.7 
0.7 
7.S 


»-3 
9-7 
8.9 
9.0 
9.2 
6.4 


3-0 


s.s 

3-4 


31 

S-5 
2.6 


0.8 


1.9 

2.4 

l-S 
1.6 
0.2 
i.S 

1.4 

1-3 

0.4 
1.6 
2.3 
1 .2 

2.0 
0.9 


1-4 
1 .0 
1-3 
2.0 
2-S 
0.4 


2.5 
2.5 

0.3 


3.6 
2.1 
2.3 

3-3 
4.0 
1-3 

3-4 

3.7 
2.5 
2.8 

3-4 

3-7 
4.0 
3-2 
2.0 

4.2 
3-5 
31 
2.9 

3.9 
3.3 
4.4 
2.9 
3.6 
3-4 

3-9 
3-5 
3-9 
4.4 
3.6 
3-9 

4.6 
4.2 
3-2 
4-5 
3-3 
3-7 


3-4 
3-7 
3-4 
3.9 

3.6 
3-9 
3-9 

4-4 
4.2 
3.6 


*  Lines  s  and  6  omitted  in  high-school  and  adult  averages.     G  =  Good;   P  =Poor. 


THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN 


17 


ANALYSIS   OF   EYE-VOICE    SPAN 

An  interpretation  of  the  significance  of  the  variations  in  eye-voice 
span  can  best  be  made  by  studying  the  relationships  between  these 
variations  and  other  known  factors  of  the  reading  process.  A  large 
amount  of  valuable  information  has  been  developed  in  recent  years 
concerning  reading  rate  and  cjuality,  and  the  characteristics  of  eye- 
movements  and  fixations.  A  correlation  of  the  eye-voice  span  with 
some  of  the  known  factors  will  determine  which  types  of  eye-voice 
separation  are  indicative  of  mature  and  of  immature  reading  habits. 
Accordingly,  an  analysis  of  the  eye-voice  span  will  be  made  showing 
correlations  (a)  with  quality  of  reading  throughout  the  school  period, 
(b)  with  various  positions  in  the  sentence,  (c)  with  reading  rate,  (d)  with 
the  number  of  fixations,  and  (e)  with  regressive  movements.  After 
such  an  analysis  the  significance  of  the  eye-voice  span  can  be  more 
definitely  stated. 

Relation  to  quality  of  reading  throughout  the  school  grades. — The  sub- 
jects for  this  experiment  were  carefully  selected,  as  stated  in  an  earlier 
paragraph,  on  the  basis  of  quality  of  reading,  making  two  equal  groups, 
one  composed  of  good  readers  and  the  other  of  poor  readers.  By  com- 
paring the  average  eye-voice  spans  of  these  two  groups  the  correlation 
with  quality  of  reading  becomes  apparent.  The  subjects  were  also 
selected  from  each  elementary  grade  above  the  second  and  from  each 
high-school  class.  The  purpose  of  this  method  of  selection  was  to  make 
possible  a  study  of  the  development  of  the  eye-voice  span  through  the 
grades.     Table  II  shows  the  average  eye-voice  span  of  twenty-four 


TABLE  II 
Average  Eye- Voice  Span  by  Grades — Elementary  Subjects 


Subjects 

Grade 

Average 
FOR  All 
Grades 

II 

III 

IV 

v 

VI 

VII 

Good  readers 

Poor  readers 

Good  and  poor  .  . . 

II. 0 

5-4 
8.2 

13.2 
10.3 
II. 8 

13-9 

6.1 

10. 0 

16.8 

9-7 

13-3 

II. 9 
II. 2 
II. 6 

15.9          13.8 

9.4           8.7 

12.7     j     II. 3 

elementary  pupils  by  school  grades  and  also  by  quality  of  reading. 
Figure  i  expresses  the  same  facts  graphically.  The  table  shows  the 
average  eye-voice  span  for  all  the  good  readers  to  be  13  .8  letter-spaces, 
for  the  poor  readers  8 . 7  letter-spaces,  and  for  the  whole  group  of  24 
pupils  taken  together  11. 3  letter-spaces.     The  superiority  of  the  good 


i8 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


readers  in  width  of  eye-voice  span  is  very  great,  the  average  for  all 
grades  being  58  per  cent  wider  than  that  of  the  poor  readers.  The 
average  span  of  the  good  readers  is  also  wider  than  that  of  the  poor 
readers  in  every  grade,  being  greater  by  103  per  cent  in  the  second 
grade,  28  per  cent  in  the  third  grade,  127  per  cent  in  the  fourth  grade, 
73  per  cent  in  the  fifth,  6  per  cent  in  the  sixth,  and  69  per  cent  in  the 
seventh.  These  results  make  it  perfectly  clear  that  for  elementary 
pupils  a  wide  eye-voice  span  is  a  factor  of  good  reading  and  a  narrow 


^^     /^^\  //^ 


II 


III 


IV 


V 


VI 


VII 


Fig.  I. — Average  eye-voice  span  by  grades — elementarj'  subjects.  The  grades 
are  shown  on  the  horizontal  a.xis.  The  width  of  the  ej^e-voice  span  in  letter-spaces 
is  shown  on  the  vertical  axis. 


span  is  a  factor  of  poor  reading.     Whether  this  factor  is  in  the  nature 
of  a  cause  or  an  effect  will  be  considered  later. 

A  development  in  the  width  of  the  eye-voice  span  through  the 
grades  is  also  shown  by  Table  II  and  Figure  i.  Following  the  upper 
line  in  Figure  i,  for  the  good  readers,  the  progress  shows  a  general  upward 
direction  until  the  sixth  grade  is  reached,  where  a  sudden  drop  occurs. 
This  drop  is  apparently  due  to  a  very  extreme  variation  in  a  single 
individual  rather  than  to  a  characteristic  of  the  grade  in  general.  Sub- 
ject E18,  who  was  a  good  reader  in  the  sixth  grade,  had  an  average 
eye-voice  span  which  was  lower  than  that  of  any  other  good  reader, 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  1 9 

even  those  in  the  second  grade.  The  low  average  of  the  good  readers 
for  this  grade  is  due  to  this  exceptionally  narrow  span.  This  subject 
showed  all  the  other  characteristics  of  a  good  reader,  and  no  explanation 
appeared,  as  far  as  could  be  discovered,  for  the  very  narrow  span  except 
that  it  was  an  extreme  individual  variation.  The  development  of  the 
span  through  the  grades  for  both  good  and  poor  readers  was  irregular, 
but  a  general  upward  tendency  of  the  line  is  noticeable.  Evidently  this 
development  is  interfered  with  in  the  training  of  some  pupils. 

Plates  III  and  V-XV  show  the  readings  of  one  good  and  one  poor 
reader  from  each  of  the  elementary  grades.  A  study  of  some  of  these 
individual  records  will  reveal  many  characteristic  variations  in  oral 
reading.  Plates  V  and  VI  give  the  readings  of  a  good  and  a  poor  reader 
from  the  second  grade.  Subject  E2,  the  good  reader,  has  an  average 
span  of  10.3  letter-spaces.  The  width  of  the  span  in  the  two  positions 
measured  in  the  first  line  is  much  narrower  than  in  the  positions  in  the 
third  and  fourth  lines.  Such  a  variation  for  a  subject,  within  a  selection, 
is  a  characteristic  in  some  degree  of  all  readers.  Plate  VI  shows  the 
reading  of  Subject  E3,  a  second-grade  pupil  and  the  poorest  reader 
tested.  The  whole  charactci  ui  Lii  <_ye-movements  is  uiiTerent  from 
that  of  E2.  The  average  eye- voice  span  of  E3  is  only  3  .4  letter-spaces. 
In  the  first  line  for  the  second  word  there  was  no  span  at  all,  the  eye 
being  fixated  upon  the  word  "kitten"  at  the  same  time  it  was  being 
spoken.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  line  a  span  of  only  3  letter- 
spaces  is  found.  The  dictaphone  record  showed  that  this  subject  did 
not  know  all  of  the  words  of  the  selection  and  had  not  mastered  his 
phonics  sufficiently  to  help  himself.  Several  words  were  apparently 
spelled  out  before  they  were  pronounced.  It  is  plainly  evident  that 
reading  for  this  subject  was  little  more  than  pronouncing  a  series  of 
words.  He  was  unable  to  look  ahead  of  his  voice  and  therefore  had  no 
means  of  grasping  the  meaning  of  a  sentence  in  more  than  word  units. 
This  was  a  very  extreme  case  which  should  doubtless  receive  special 
treatment. 

Plates  VII  and  VIII  show  the  records  of  a  good  and  a  poor  reader 
from  the  third  grade.  The  good  reader,  Subject  E6,  has  an  average  span 
of  13 . 7  letter-spaces.  In  line  3  there  was  a  large  span  of  20  letter-spaces. . 
Subject  E7,  the  poor  reader,  was  a  very  active  and  talkative  boy  when 
not  engaged  in  reading.  He  read  as  if  the  whole  process  were  a  bore  to 
him  and  gave  clear  evidence  that  he  did  not  hold  the  ability  to  read 
well  in  very  high  esteem.  He  had  a  very  difficult  time  stumbling 
through  the  first  line,  making  29  fixations  in  the  process.     His  average 


20  A  STUDY  OF  THE   EYE-VOICE   SPAX  IX   RE.ADIXG 

PLATE  V 

VI IE  Vi 


The     Ivitten     pulled     at 


the    veil 


-iE 


IS. 


and 


I 
w^r^a 


fL 


II      /•JLO 


i 

r 

I 
of 


3       H- 


7  ?     B 


f  lovers    %vith 


her    ciiniiiiig    pa%s'Si.      Little 


b;.- 


31 


tE 


^       I 
I        I 


li  tie 


she    dre%v 


,o         y 


vr 


them     to    th':^    ediie    of 


th< 


Vr- 

I 
I 

boL 


71  9 


to 


At  last     si  10    poked 


.Z.  >  .-*"  '*       6 


Her 


hea 


:1   riaht 


throush 


th 


e 


Vi ^E 


nE 


\v]'eath, 


m 


t      sh 


coiikhi  t      L^et  Y  it       «>i>t       «J^ 


ain 


i^  1.3  iL-  J  If  /c  /S 

Eye- voice  span  of  Subject  E:;,  good  reader.  Grade  U 


^1 


THE  EYE-\'OICE  SPAX 
PLATE  \T 


21 


^        i  f  i     I 

Thi 


VnE 

7       t    • 


V| ^E 


Si-oi   ?  "    i  '*  13  "i         ,  iS-  ,i(.  If  i7  li 


[lied 


L    fi^ll       pll 


iit    the    ^eil 


and     ^v  rcath 


3i   -"  ^/  ^1^ 


V^-,E 


^-V 


of 


ii 


I 


floANCI 


witli 


hi 


Y     I '111  1111^    pav^s 


Littl'e    bv 


J-V 


a  ^SJ  ^3       ,i      i-'^         9  >^   I?        ?     ^S  <i        _2|^  ,^      i/   3.7  !(, 


\      SL       I      3        H 


lit 


le 


sliG     are^N 


V, ,E 

'    7J.         t    /"',f        /a.        iH     IS- 


i.o 


Jll 


/^        i7    if 


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edge    of    Ihe 


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10     <^    jl,      s.L>  Cii'^        "  i'i"        6         76      H^  '(^       3i-     J 


V, ,E 

I        I 


3         ^^  I     7  Sii  f  &   12.       10      1$  /&  IH     I?  IS-  li  I 


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\vre  1  hJ    biiti      she     con  dn't      iet 


out 


fiS 


iin, 


Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E3,  poor  reader,  Grade  II 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 
PLATE  VII 


V, 


,E 


V- 


X       3 


L       y 


Tie    kitten    ])ullecl    M   the    vei]     and 


w^r 


4aih 


10  f 


I? 


ID       13 

,E 


\ 

oi     flcbM^ei'S    \viltli     lit 


9  7? 


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I 


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//     li 


ciLiiniii^    pa^^s 


;.     Ljftle 


X. 


Iby 


A.X. 


^        ^         I    3\ 


S       7     9 


Utile     ahr 

1        9  (. 


d]*e\v^     then     to     \\v 


13 


<'dge    o' 


the     box. 


S        13     lo 


Mr 
.1 


^         3 


At  l^st    s  le     Doked 

7  H 


.E  V, 

I     '  I 


r 


li 


>nd 


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right     through    the 


3      'i     ii      S        y 

Vi 


f3 


reiith,      bii 


t      sh( 


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V       ,7      y  ^ 


out 


^ 


again. 


f       II     13  9 
Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E6,  good  reader,  Grade  III 


THE  EVE-VOICE  SPAN 
PLATE  VIII 


23 


^1 rE 


T 


l' 


V, ,E 


i"  J  i   ^  lY  /  i  /i  7    '^1       "    13     1*^       IS-       '    16      i9  17      zoii  1%  x-i  3.S     :2i   i/   i7Jii2i.      ji? 


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itt^ii 


pJill(k1    jh 


le 


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il 


a  I 


V    '('at 


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I  I 


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V 


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w^reat 


^    mit      she     couldn't     get     it      out      again. 


sy^ii^'^  '"  '^ 


Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E7,  poor  reader,  Grade  III.     (** — end  of  film) 


24  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

eye-voice  span  was  8  letter-spaces.  On  the  word  "box"  in  the  third 
line  his  span  was  reduced  to  zero. 

Plate  IX  shows  the  record  of  a  good  reader  in  the  fourth  grade. 
That  of  the  poor  reader  from  this  grade  was  given  in  Plate  III.  The 
good  reader,  Subject  E9,  had  an  eye-voice  span  of  ii.i  letter-spaces. 
His  record  shows  a  distinct  difference  in  the  length  of  the  span  at  the 
ends  of  the  first  two  sentences,  on  the  words  "paws"  and  "box."  These 
relatively  shorter  spans  on  the  last  word  of  a  sentence  are  much  more 
noticeable  with  a  good  reader  than  with  a  poor  one. 

Plate  X  shows  the  record  of  a  good  reader  from  the  fifth  grade, 
who  has  an  exceptionally  wide  eye-voice  span  which  averages  ig.y 
letter-spaces.  When  this  subject  was  pronouncing  the  word  "head" 
in  the  fourth  line,  the  eye  was  fixated  just  after  the  word  "wreath"  in 
the  last  line,  making  a  span  of  26  letter-spaces.  Such  a  wide  eye-voice 
span  gives  the  reader  a  large  opportunity  to  anticipate  and  interpret 
the  meaning  of  the  sentence  in  large  units,  and  allows  a  much  more 
expressive  oral  presentation  than  could  be  given  without  such  a  wide  span. 

Plate  XI  shows  the  record  of  a  poor  reader  from  this  same  grade, 
with  an  average  span  of  only  7  letter-spaces.  A  comparison  of  these 
two  records  will  readily  show  the  handicap  under  which  a  person  with 
a  short  span  reads. 

Plates  XIV  and  XV  show  the  wide  variation  in  the  reading  of 
two  seventh-grade  pupils.  Subject  E22,  in  Plate  XIV,  has  an  average 
eye-voice  span  of  19.7  letter-spaces.  The  second  fixation  in  the  last 
line  of  this  plate  shows  a  type  of  eye-movement  which  occurs  frequently 
in  the  reading  of  all  subjects.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  first  fixation 
falls  upon  the  first  word  of  the  line,  while  the  second  appears  to  fall 
just  before  the  last  word.  A  careful  examination  of  the  film  shows 
that  an  upward  movement  of  the  eye  was  made  between  fixations  i  and  2 
and  that  the  eye  was  really  refixated  upon  the  latter  part  of  the  preced- 
ing line. 

Since  the  film  passed  through  the  camera  in  the  vertical  plane,  the 
vertical  movements  of  the  eye  would  not  appear  directly.  The  method 
of  determining  an  upward  movement  of  the  eye  in  this  case  needs  further 
explanation.  The  film  passed  through  the  camera  in  a  downward 
direction.  A  horizontal  eye  movement  from  the  end  of  one  line  to  the 
beginning  of  the  next  would  appear  as  an  oblique  line,  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  eye  moves  down  to  the  next  line  while  the  film  is  also  moving 
in  the  same  direction.  If  the  eye  moved  from  one  end  of  a  line  to  the 
other  end  of  the  same  line,  the  degree  of  obliqueness  would  be  less 


THE  EYEA^OICE  SPx\N 
PLATE  IX 


T 


,\ 


The    kitten    pulled    at 


I 

S'       I  ^ 

,    I 
the 


25 


vp- 


/O  II 


I    Si  x3    S 

I 


f  ^ 


7  I 

I 

veil     and    ^vreiith 

Vr |E 


flow^ers    ^v^i 


of 

IX  3                     ¥ 

lit  le  she    drew 

%       IH  f                          IH 


h    t  er    cuiinii^    paws. 


I7 
I 

Liltle    by 


them    to   the 


6     ^1 


Vr- 


ed^e   of  the 


/s 


box. 


//       JS- 


-IE    Vr 


-lE     Vr- lE 


'  V 


3       Ji 


!.- 


At  last    she 


7  57 


pc  ked    hpr    he^d  right' 


.    Y 


through    the 


/a         s- 


3         I 


wreath,     but      sne 


rE 

.1 


cou  dn't     ge       it       3U        a^ain. 


?       i 


17 


9    'o      ic  n 


Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  Eg,  good  reader,  Grade  IV 


26 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 
PLATE  X 


Vr 


3     J- 


The    ki^n    pulled    at 


-iE  Vr- 


tie    veil 


Zo 


and    ^  wreath 

n 


^0     /y  H     :i.3 

Vi rE 


V    I     6 


of    f^o^ve^'s    with    her    cunning    paws.     Little 

13  *         li  s-ij 


s- 


by 


IH 


Vi 


nE      Vi — 


/,  ^  I  *#  ,*  ,6 

little    she    dre^v     Uiem    to    the^edgc;    of   the     box. 


IX 


2.         i 


/o 


E        Vr 

Vr-T r — IE 

At  last    she    poked    lier     lead  right     through    the 


'H 


13     9  >f        ^o   iH         <f 


IZ.  >2- 


\vreath,' 


lE 

I — she     conk 


but 


H  5-  L 

n't     get      it      out      again. 


l<s     "1    13  9  ?  ^' 

Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E13,  good  reader,  Grade  V 


THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN 
PLATE  XI 


n 


3    V 


Tlie    kitten    puled     a     the    vei 


-rE 
I 

I 


L    <i     i 


27 


Vi 

7   I  10 


13 


jT    /^ 


X9 


ai  d    M  rcath 

9     IS    ^         Av     // 


J. 


lE 

I 

01 


/2.    3 


tj.      <f    J     7      L       i      13 


flo 


vvers    AiT^ith    her 


H   10 


VrnE 


Little 


i    V    /    i" 


li  tie 


she    dr(  w     thei  li 


I     I. 
I     I 


by 


Vi— 


to    the    ed^e   of   the 


3  10     I 


II     /S.     I,       X 


IE 


/a-     13 


i2 


)OX. 


3      9 


V| lE 


IS.i 


la!»t    she 


li    12    X 

V| ,E 


poK  ed     i€  r 

7         X  ^  "?     // 


/i'  /tf 


head  li^ft     thrau^h    the 


If,        IS   IH 


10       13 


V| 


\  ^^rea 


I 


h. 


but 


s 


le 


^     ^        Id   i:l,7      I'      13 

r 


30uldii' 


£^et 


t 


out 


ajiaia. 


/  o      II     a 


10     12.    )t        /9       /;i. 


Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E16,  poor  reader,  Grade  V.     The  mark  x  in  this  and  following 
plates  indicates  that  it  was  impossible  to  determine  with  precision  the  length  of  the  fixation. 


28  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

PLATE  XII 


I 

1^       / 


The    kit' 


on 

Xo       7 


--lE  Vi — 

5  V    jjr  7    i     i      \ 

I 


piilknl     ill    the     ^eil     and     ^M^e 

/-^  IS.  J.0  n  io   s- 


hth 


lE 


,5,     / 


3^7 


17      9 


of    t'loweri-.    \vith     !um"      •iiniilig    pa>^s 


/2.       /3.         /^  15 


,;;.  s         I'  /4    is- 


Litdi 


ky 


iH 


9  //  -5.  /O         i-?- 


VI — 


E  Vr- 


Httle    she 


d.-^. 


^\ 


them     to    tlie    edi»e    of   (lie 


s , 


!). 


)x. 


(7  /a. 


"/  A  7 


vry lE  I it 


At  hist    she 


pok( 


(I     her     head    -isht     thi*3uj;h 


tlie 


IS  s  L>  /o  <i  10       '^  /I    s       ^  iz 


vr|- 

I  '  -2-  Ms 

wreath,  I   but      khe     coiillthi't     ^et     it 


L   ' 


Jll 


itiam. 


It 


13       iS      -2  ■ 


Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E17,  good  reader,  Grade  VI 


THE   EYE-VOICE   SPAN 
PLATE  XIII 


29 


V ^E 


^    3 


I    I 
I 


9       7  10  S 


The     kitten     pulle 

IS  10  i.o  ^"3 


d     at    the    ^^eil     iind 


kV 


eath 


rei 


17      10     L   II 


'  2. 

of     'lowers     Nvith     h 

/i  JO  3i> 


--nE 


3  V 

T    cunning    pbWs.     lLitl3t 


by 


/<J 


is      ic     17 


3  S  I       X    6      ¥  7 


t  h 


sh 


»n(" 


drL'^v^     f 


// 17  3-1     i  li    ^  7 


leni     to    1 


13 


Vi ^E 


z    I 


A    last 


//       il 


T 

'^he  \j>oked 


s- 


ih 


L  7 


he    edge    of   the      jox. 


13 


her     head  ]*i^ht 


13 


through    the 


V 


.2     / 


9  lO     '6 


^v^reath 


3lI       g 


but      she     wouldn't     ;>et      ii       <ui        again 

Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E19,  poor  reader,  Grade  \T 


30 


A  STUDY  OF  THE   EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 
PLATE  XIV 


Vr- 

^      3    i\    ^ 


ll 


Vi-- 


Jr  ,1^  7  S\      ? 

Th^    iik't^n    pulled    at   the    velLl     airld    \v^r(3ati 


/6       1    L     1^ 


13 

Vr 

I 

^  I 


^     ^ 


of    flowers    with    h(?r    eunnin^    paw^s.     Little 


/i 


It, 


lE 

S        6        7 
I 


1% 


y-j 


i         ^       ^f 


little 


V 


2-3  ^  S     i  ^ 

she    dre^v^     tl|iein    to    the    W^e   of   the     box. 


3        I 


X  ^ 


At  lai^t 


she    pokec     her    head  j-ight    through 

t 


^        7 


/^ 


rE 

I 
w^reaih,      but      she 


-T 


th 


e 


coulcln 


Id. 


t     cet     it      cut 


E 


again 


Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E22,  good  reader,  Grade  VII 


THE   EYE-VOICE  SPAN 
PLATE  XV 


31 


V, )E 


3  X         /  6  H     ^.  ^"^     I? 


//  /c>       /J. 


'Vhv 


itien 


pulled 


i  7         7  1^  ?  II      %  ^7 


ill    th(^    veil     and 


\v"reath 


/      ± 


^      L        i 


of 


fk^w^ers    m  itii     her    cuniiiiig 


Er-nV 

I  I  }i     ID 

5    \il       I  7  '1? 


pa^v'S. 


15         U 


///  9  ^         S     XA 


/V 


ittle    by 


'g  7 


i^  i 


VI lE 

I  I      '^ 

3     '  ^  ^  S  ^    16     7  i3   ,1    g 

little    spe    di-ew     tlieni     lo    tlie    ed^e 

JS-  31  l»  XL  -^V    //  ,2.'  f   S  iS^ 


Vr- 


<f   iL   n  X  is^  I 


o 


Hie     box. 


7      7    /V  7 


-»E  V| (E 

'I  I         - 


Vr 


i^t  lAst 


she    joked 


her 


;?^ 


head  ri^lit    tin 


13     ?         9  iS  /S  7 


ough    the 


Vi lE        Er^V 


'3-  y|  ^    ^  ^ 


\  wreath       but  ' 


sh< 


couldn't 


I'et     i 


out 


/^  /^  'o  JLo     9  Ji>  ^-f  <f 

Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  E24,  poor  reader,  Grade  VII 


again. 


32  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

because  there  would  be  no  added  drop  of  the  eye  to  the  hue  below.  The 
movement  to  the  second  fixation  in  the  last  line  of  Plate  XIV  not  only 
failed  to  show  an  oblique  in  the  downward  direction,  but  it  showed  a 
slight  oblique  in  the  upward  direction.  The  only  possible  explanation 
is  that  the  eye  was  raised  a  little  more  than  was  necessary  to  overcome 
the  downward  movement  of  the  film.  A  careful  examination  of  the 
film  shows  that,  when  compared  to  the  degree  of  slant  of  a  movement  of 
the  eye  across  the  same  line,  the  upward  movement  in  this  case  is  approxi- 
mately equal  to  the  added  downward  movement  when  the  eye  makes 
its  regular  drop  from  line  to  line.  This  would  locate  the  fixation  follow- 
ing the  upward  oblique  on  the  line  above.  This  is  indicated  in  the  plates 
by  a  dotted  line  above  the  fixation  point,  showing  that  a  regressive 
movement  was  actually  made  to  the  preceding  line,  although  it  appears 
at  first  glance  to  be  a  long  movement  in  the  forward  direction. 

A  similar  regressive  movement  is  seen  in  the  second  fixation  of 
line  3  in  Plate  XV.  Such  fixations  are  sufficiently  frequent  to  indicate 
that  the  transition  from  line  to  line  presents  a  difhculty  to  some  readers- 

Subject  E24,  in  Plate  XV,  was  an  exceedingly  poor  reader  for  the 
seventh  grade.  In  lines  2  and  5  his  record  shows  the  curious  situation 
of  having  the  eye  behind  the  voice.  In  both  cases  this  is  due  to  a 
regressive  movement  which  occurred  as  the  measure  was  taken.  The 
reading  of  this  subject  was  poorer  than  that  of  the  two  better  readers 
in  the  second  grade  and  his  eye-voice  span  was  also  narrower. 

The  average  eye-voice  span  for  the  twenty-four  high-school  subjects 
is  given  in  Table  III.  The  same  facts  are  expressed  graphically  in 
Figure  2.  Here  again  the  greater  width  of  the  span  for  the  good  readers 
is  made  clear.  In  the  freshman  class  the  average  eye-voice  span  of 
the  good  readers  was  greater  by  37  per  cent,  in  the  sophomore  class  by 
16  per  cent,  in  the  junior  class  by  74  per  cent,  and  in  the  senior  class 
by  28  per  cent.  For  the  total  group  of  high-school  subjects  the  average 
span  of  the  good  readers  exceeds  that  of  the  poor  readers  by  36  per  cent. 
This  evidence  is  in  agreement  with  that  from  the  elementary-school 
pupils,  and  clearly  shows  a  high  degree  of  correlation  between  good 
,  reading  and  a  wide  eye-voice  span. 

[  The  consistent  development  in  the  width  of  the  eye-voice  span 
through  the  high-school  grades  is  not  so  evident  as  in  the  lower  grades. 
The  good  readers  from  the  freshman  class  have  a  wider  span  than  those 
from  the  sophomore  and  junior  classes,  and  one  practically  equal  to 
that  of  the  senior  class.  The  average  span  for  the  poor  readers  from 
the  junior  class  is  lower  than  that  of  any  of  the  other  three.     These 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 


33 


dififerences  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  in  high  school  Httle 
attention  is  given  to  reading  as  a  special  subject  of  instruction  above 
the  freshman  year.  The  freshman  class  had  been  undergoing  a  series 
of  experimental  training  exercises  conducted  by  the  English  department. 

TABLE  III 

Average  Eye-Voice  Span  by  Grades— High-School  Subjects* 


Subjects 

Grade 

Average 
FOR  All 
Grades 

Freshman 

Sophomore 

Junior 

Senior 

Good  readers 

Poor  readers 

Good  and  poor.  .  .  . 

15.8 
13-7 

14-5 
12.5 
13s 

14.6 

8.2 

II. 4 

159 
12.4 
14.2 

IS-2 

II. 2 
13.2 

*  Data  for  lines  s  and  6  not  included. 


15 


t ^^  -^ 


Freshman  Sophomore  Junior 

Fig.  2. — Average  eye-voice  span  by  grades — high-school  subjects 


Senior 


This  special  training  probably  accounts  for  the  superiority  of  the  pupils 
in  this  class. 

Plates  IV  and  XVI-XX  show^  representative  readings  of  high-school 
subjects.  The  record  of  a  good  reader  from  the  freshman  class,  with  an 
average  span  of  14.3  letter-spaces,  is  given  in  Plate  IV.     The  span  for 


34  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

this  subject  is  quite  regular,  showing  little  variation  in  any  of  the  eight 
positions  measured.  Plate  XVI  gives  the  record  for  a  poor  reader 
from  the  same  grade.  The  average  eye- voice  span  for  this  reader  is 
12  .4  letter-spaces.  The  last  half  of  the  record  for  a  good  reader  from 
the  junior  class  is  shown  in  Plate  XVII.  This  subject  had  an  average 
span  of  17.7  letter-spaces.  The  ease  with  which  he  read  the  sentence 
in  quotations  shows  that  if  the  words  are  simple,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
understand  the  thought  in  order  to  read  in  a  normal  fashion.  This 
subject  certainly  had  no  idea  of  the  way  "the  original  elements  of  our 
consciousness  grew  up,"  and  yet  he  read  the  sentence  in  the  same  manner 
in  which  he  read  the  first  four  easy  lines.  A  record  of  a  poor  reader 
from  the  junior  class  is  given  in  Plate  XVIII.  The  width  of  the  average 
span  for  this  subject  is  only  8 . 5  letter-spaces,  and  shows  considerable 
variation  throughout  the  selection.  Plates  XIX  and  XX  show  the 
records  of  a  good  and  a  poor  reader  from  the  senior  class  having  little 
difference  in  the  average  width  of  their  eye-voice  span. 

On  the  whole  there  was  less  difference  in  the  width  of  span  between 
the  good  and  poor  readers  in  the  high  school  than  in  the  elementary 
grades.  This  is  to  be  expected,  since  c/en  a  poor  high-school  reader 
does  fairly  well.  The  poorest  readers  of  the  elementary  school  are 
probably  eliminated  and  never  reach  high  school. 

The  group  of  six  college  students  had  a  development  of  the  eye-voice 
span  beyond  that  of  the  high-school  group.  The  average  span  for  the 
good  adult  readers  is  18.9  letter-spaces,  for  the  poor  readers  11. 7 
letter-spaces,  and  for  the  group  as  a  whole  15.3  letter-spaces.  The 
difference  between  the  good  and  poor  readers  is  again  very  large. 

The  development  of  the  eye-voice  span  for  the  entire  fifty-four  sub- 
jects is  shown  in  Figure  3.  The  upper  solid  1-ine  represents  the  twenty- 
seven  good  readers,  the  lower  solid  line  the  twenty-seven  poor  readers, 
and  the  middle  broken  line  the  good  and  poor  readers  taken  together. 
Following  the  line  for  the  good  readers  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  greatest 
rise  in  the  curve  occurs  during  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  grades. 
The  average  span  of  the  good  readers  in  the  fifth  grade  is  wider  than 
that  of  any  other  grade.  The  average  span  for  the  fifth-,  sixth-,  and 
seventh-grade  good  readers  is  14.9  letter-spaces,  while  the  average  for 
the  entire  high-school  group  of  good  readers  is  only  15  .2.  Remember- 
ing that  the  average  for  the  sixth  grade  is  abnormally  low,  owing  to 
the  exceptional  variation  of  a  single  subject,  the  results  seem  to  indicate 
that  the  eye-voice  span  should  be  well  developed  by  the  end  of  the 
fourth  grade.     They  show  positively  that  it  is  possible  for  a  fifth-grade 


V 


THE  EYE-VOICE   SPAN 
PLATE  XVI 

[E 


I 


V 


16      If    /o     /6     i      S 


35 


//  /x. 


The  two  men   wgyv  seatel  atji  table  upon 


^^  hich 


//   /         /o  2.  3 

xuar  y    books 

^  I?       ?  ^ 


'6>  i.7  '^        7  /o 

V  t- ,£ 

,  I  I 

7         &  \  1^     \'J  13       i 

and    pai>ers    ^v^crc;    s< mattered. 


H         S 


7        9 


lA. 


/3 


Tie 

7^7      JLi 


older  mtn  turjied  to  ,i  pa 


/3 


/? 


^e  in   ;i   lar^c  book  and 


■^  I 


^E 

H       S  S      7l  L 


'i 


be^aiL  to  :'ead.      The 


subject 


^i 


/-T  /-y 


^      9 

the^"  chapter  kv^f  s 


IS,      /S  6       ^j.  JS- 


^    3L       7 


soniei  h  in^   about 


16 


/o 


hypju^Oj^ic 


VI 

I 


IX   g  13  lo         iif  //         IS- 


halliLC]n 


a 


ions 


ani 


'7    i\  IS  IH  IS-A.3      JO 


^    ¥    3    S    l>       ?|^       7 

hypei'aestli  ej  da . 


JO 


lE 


ts. 


I  -      '  I 

A     fe\j^     ba^es    furthe;'    on    [he 


/g  10  2.A.    17    IS   S       1^     13        9  9  't> 

Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  H6,  poor  reader,  freshman 


/V 


36  A   STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SP.YN  IN  READING 

PLATE  XVII 

/  .2-  VJJ-'?-^^ 


cailie    fo    a     sen  once     whioh 

Vi 


^y 


readj    "Oik  3    t  ling. 
.E 


^  I       3 
I 


xS 


ho\^^ever,  is  obvious,  namely,  that  the  mainer  in 


i:l 


IF  II 


li 


^v]  lich     Av^e 


bee  3nie     acq 


lainted      \vdth     pomplex 


JO 


II 


13 


/V 


Vi 


objects     need     not 


in     ihe     leas:    resemble     the 


)i 


13 


13 


J> 


¥ 


manier    in    which 


/o 


3H 


the   original   clemeiits   of    our 


r 


/% 


I    I 


Consciousness  ^ 


I 
reXv  ijip 


li     lo       X 
Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  Hi 4,  good  reader,  junior 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SP-AN 
PLATE  XVHI 


37 


V 


^ 


lE 

3    H      \^ 
I 


The   two  men  \k^€re 


L  7  S  ? 

seated  at  a  table  itpon  ^\"hich 


16. 


'3 


Vi 


rtiany 


»3 


books 


and    papers    -s^ere    scattered.     The 


// 


iz. 


-[E 

M  3  yi      %  S 

I 

olfl^r  ihaln  t4i'ne(ft  tcb  a  pa^^  in 


7 


/g 


/»       // 


/<& 


/-i 


1-3 


V| ^E 

II 

bejjan  to  i-ead 


3.t 


u 


a   Iirge  book 


and 


S         H-      6 


/c 


Tie    subject   of   thc^   cliapter 


-r       JO.      <^ 


w^as 


13 


7  II 


X     2 


7     L  i 


/o 


J^ 


soinethin?>   about   hypna^o^ic 


^    i 


hallucinations    a] id 


¥:^ 


S,  I    3     H      s 


.1 


/V      "'^S        -?o 


lE 


hy  )(5raesthesia.       i^     fc^w^     pa^es    further 

<j  10  10  li       %,  y  X  J  /i*  ^  O 

Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  Hi6,  poor  reader,  junior 


on    he 


49G57 


38  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

PLATE  XIX 


I 

'    I 


--■E 

I 

1^ 


? 


T  le  Kvd  ii^ioik  w^ote  seited  at  a  tjable  upoh  whic 


3o        "*      '^ 


/z. 


13 


lO 


V, 


I       JL  3  tf 

ijadny    bboks    and    papers    ^v^ere 


u 


/I      'V 


Ji 


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Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  H19,  good  reader,  senior 


furthc^    oiv  ht 

16        i 


THE  EYEA'OICE   SPAN 
PLATE  XX 


39 


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Eye-voice  span  of  Subject  H24,  poor  reader,  senior 


40 


A  STUDY   OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


a 

a 


c     tiS 


^     Q 


I.     bO 

6    o 


THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  4 1 

reader  to  maintain  an  average  eye-voice  span  as  wide  as  the  average 
for  any  of  the  school  grades  above  that  year.  Since  the  correlation  of 
a  wide  span  with  good  reading  is  so  clearly  shown,  it  would  seem  very 
desirable  to  give  definite  training  for  a  wider  span  in  the  grades  below 
the  fifth. 

The  line  for  the  poor  readers  shows  on  the  whole  a  gradual  rise  from 
the  second  grade  to  the  end  of  high  school.  Variations  occur  in  places, 
but  if  the  curve  were  smoothed  a  general  rise  would  appear. 

The  upward  rise  of  the  line  for  the  good  readers  for  the  first  four 
grades  would  indicate  a  possibility  of. reaching  a  maximum  eye-voice 
span  during  those  years,  provided  specific  devices  of  method  for  increas- 
ing the  span  could  be  constructed  and  applied.  The  other  lines  of  the 
curve  indicate  that  at  present  this  is  not  being  accomplished  for  most  of 
the  pupils,  but  that  the  span  develops  gradually  throughout  the  whole 
school  period.  This  increased  emphasis  upon  the  eye-voice  span  during 
the  first  four  years  would  seem  to  be  justified  for  two  reasons.  The 
first  is  that  a  wide  span  is  a  significant  factor  in  oral  reading  and  these 
are  the  years  in  which  the  oral  method  is  employed.  The  second  is 
because,  as  will  be  shown  more  fully  in  chapter  iv,  the  eye-voice  span 
in  oral  reading  is  closely  related  to  the  recognition  of  meaning  in  silent 
reading,  and  whatever  benefit  might  be  derived  from  a  wide  span  in  oral 
reading  should  be  made  available  for  silent  reading  by  the  end  of  the 
fourth  grade. 

Regardless  of  the  amount  of  development  through  the  grades. 
Figure  3  shows  unmistakably  that  for  all  grades  the  good  readers  have 
a  much  wider  span  than  the  poor  readers.  There  must  be  something 
about  a  wide  eye-voice  span  which  is  characteristic  of  mature  reading, 
and  the  converse  must  be  true  for  the  narrow  span.  This  matter  of  the 
eye-voice  span  must  not  be  confused  with  the  perception-span.  The 
eye  sometimes  leads  the  voice  by  a  distance  of  several  perception-spans. 
The  value  of  a  wide  eye-voice  span  apparently  lies  in  the  fact  that  it 
allows  the  mind  to  grasp  and  interpret  a  large  meaning  unit  before  the 
voice  must  express  it. 

Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  position  in  sentence. — If  the  width  of 
the  eye-voice  span  of  a  single  subject  is  measured  at  several  positions 
in  a  selection,  it  will  be  found  to  show  considerable  variation  from 
point  to  point.  C.  T.  Gray  observed  this  fact  in  his  study  but  did  not 
attempt  to  analyze  the  variations  or  explain  them.  In  Quantz's  study, 
referred  to  in  the  introduction,  these  variations  were  also  noted,  and  an 
explanation  proposed  in   terms  of  the  position  of  the  line.     Quantz. 


42  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SP-\N  IN  READING 

found  an  average  eye- voice  span  of  7  . 4  words  at  the  beginning  of  a  line, 
5.1  words  in  the  middle,  and  3.8  words  at  the  end  of  a  line.  The 
results  of  the  present  study  do  not  agree  with  those  of  Quantz.  For 
the  fifty-four  subjects  used,  the  width  of  the  span  at  the  beginning  of 
the  line  is  12.7  letter-spaces,  in  the  middle  of  the  line  12.7,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  line  10.9.  The  only  point  of  agreement  is  that  the  span  is 
slightly  narrower  at  the  end  of  the  line  than  in  other  positions.  Since 
an  analysis  of  the  variations  by  position  in  the  line  does  not  afford  an 
adequate  explanation  as  to  the  reason  for  the  variation,  it  must  be  con- 
cluded that  there  are  other  complicating  factors.  Accordingly,  two 
factors  which  might  complicate  the  situation  were  selected  for  further 
analysis.  The  fact  that  there  is  a  large  difference  in  the  width  of  the 
span  for  the  good  and  the  poor  readers  suggested  the  possibility  that 
quality  of  reading  might  be  related  in  some  way  to  the  variation  in 
width  of  span  within  a  selection.  Also,  the  fact  that  oral  reading  is 
modified  according  to  the  units  of  thought  expressed  suggested  that 
position  in  the  sentence  might  be  a  more  potent  factor  than  position  in 
the  line.  Accordingly,  a  detailed  analysis  was  made  of  the  variation 
in  the  width  of  the  eye-voice  span  by  the  position  in  the  sentence  for 
the  good  and  poor  readers  separately,  and  then  for  all  subjects  taken 
together. 

By  referring  to  Plates  III  and  IV,  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  selection 
used,  the  eye-voice  span  was  measured  in  positions  at  the  beginning, 
middle,  and  end  of  the  sentences.  In  the  elementary-school  selection, 
the  positions  where  the  span  was  measured  were  on  the  following  words : 
(i)    "kitten,"    (2)    "wreath,"    (3)    "paws,"    (4)    "drew,"    (5)    "box," 

(6)  "last,"  (7)  "head,"  (8)  "wreath,"  (9)  "couldn't."  For  the  high- 
school  selection  the  positions  were  on  these  words:  (i)  "two," 
(2)  "scattered,"  (3)  "read,"  (4)  "few,"  (5)  "obvious,"  (6)  "complex," 

(7)  "least,"  (8)  "consciousness."  In  Tables  IV  and  V  and  in  Figures  4 
and  5,  the  horizontal  series  of  numbers  refer  to  the  positions  in  the 
selections  in  the  same  serial  order  as  just  given.  By  looking  again  at 
Plate  III  it  will  be  found  that  for  the  elementary-school  selection  posi- 
tions numbered  i  and  6  occurred  at  the  beginning  of  sentences,  positions 
2,  4,  7,  8,  and  9  fell  within  sentences,  and  positions  3  and  5  occurred  at 
the  end  of  sentences.  For  the  high-school  selections,  Plate  IV,  positions 
I  and  4  occurred  at  the  beginning,  positions  5,  6,  and  7  within,  and 
positions  2,3,  and  8  at  the  end  of  sentences. 

Table  IV  gives  the  eye-voice  span  at  each  of  the  positions  for  the 
elementary-school  subjects.     It  should  be  read  as  follows:  Subject  Ei,  a 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 


43 


good  reader  from  the  second  grade,  had  an  eye-voice  span  of  i8  letter- 
spaces  at  the  first  position,  which  was  at  the  word  "kitten"  in  the  selec- 
tion. At  the  second  position,  which  was  at  the  word  "  wreath,"  his  span 
was  13  letter-spaces,  etc.  His  average  span  was  11. 8  letter-spaces, 
while  the  average  variation  among  the  positions  was  2 . 5  letter-spaces. 
The  second  half  of  the  table  gives  the  data  for  the  poor  readers.  The 
averages  for  each  position  are  given  for  both  good  and  poor  readers. 
Figure  4  shows  a  comparison  of  these  averages  graphically,  for  both 
good  and  poor  readers.     The  numbers  on  the  horizontal  axis  refer  to 


20 

a. 

1 

\ 

.^ 

15 

t.     \ 

/ 

\ 

\ 

e. 

\ 

x^ 

/ 

\ 

*    .^'^ 

^^. 

/ 

\ 

^^^^ 

-^ 

■^              dL 

€ 

^ 

5 

n 

i 

\n 

E 

E 

B 

w 

w                   w 

Fig.  4. — Average  eye-voice  span  by  position  in  sentence — elementary  subjects. 
Position  ai  beginning  (B),  within  (W),  and  end  (E)  of  sentence  shown  on  horizontal 
axis.     Width  of  eye-voice  span  shown  on  vertical  axis. 


the  number  of  the  positions  in  the  selection,  while  the  letters  B,  IF,  and 
E  are  abbreviations  for  beginning,  within,  and  end  of  a  sentence.  The 
figures  on  the  vertical  axis  represent  the  width  of  the  span  in  letter-spaces. 
The  upper  line  is  that  of  the  good,  and  the  lower  line  is  that  of  the  poor 
readers.  Lines  h  and  6?,  respectively,  give  the  averages  of  the  good  and 
the  poor  readers  for  all  positions. 

The  most  noticeable  deviations  in  the  line  a,  for  the  good  readers, 
occurred  at  positions  numbers  3  and  5.  These  are  the  only  positions 
occurring  at  the  end  of  sentences.  The  shortening  of  the  eye-voice 
span  here  is  relatively  very  great,  and  is  entirely  too  pronounced  to  be 
accidental.     The  good  readers  have  evidently  found  that,  for  the  sake 


44 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


of  emphasis,  a  considerable  pause  must  be  made  at  the  end  of  sentences. 
The  time  during  the  pause  gives  the  eye  ample  opportunity  to  get 
ahead  and  consequently,  on  the  last  word  before  the  pause,  the  eye- 
voice  span  is  reduced.  The  relative  shortening  of  the  span  on  the  last 
word  of  a  sentence  would  therefore  indicate  an  appreciation  of  the 
meaning  and  an  attempt  to  convey  it  by  expressing,  through  the  pause, 

TABLE  IV 
Average  Eye-Voice  Span  by  Position  in  Sentence — Elementary  Subjects 


SXIBJECT 


El.. 
E2.. 

Es.. 
E6.. 
Eg.. 
Eio. 
E13. 
E14. 
E17. 
E18. 
E21. 
E22. 


Grade 


II 

II 

III 

III 

IV 

IV 

V 

V 

VI 

VI 

VII 

VII 


Eye-Voice  Span  at  Positions  in  Paragraph 


2  3  4  S  6  7  8 


Good  Readers 


18 

13 

II 

6 

5 

14 

8 

12 

IS 

15 

10 

17 

13 

b 

19 

8 

2 

20 

20 

II 

II 

9 

20 

10 

10 

5 

2 

8 

Average 


ir.s 
10.3 
12.7 
13-7 
II. I 
16.6 
19.7 
139 
14.9 
8.9 
12.0 
19.7 


Average 
Variation 


2-5 

3-9 
2.8 
2.6 
S-o 


4.3 

3-4 


Average 

Average  Variation 


152 
3-6 


12.0 
4.8 


8.3 
30 


i8.i 

4-5 


8.5 
4-6 


17.0 
5.8 


14.0 
4-3 


12.9 
2.9 


E3.. 
E4.. 
E7.. 
E8.. 
En. 
E12. 
E15. 
E16. 
E19. 
E20. 
E23. 
E24. 


Poor  Readers 


II 
II 
III 

III 
IV 
IV 
V 
V 
VI 
VI 
VII 
VII 


13.8 

2.7 


3.4 
7.4 
8.0 

12.6 

4.0 

8.2 

12.4 

7.0 

8.0 

14.4 

II. 4 

7-3 


I.I 

4-1 
2.8 
3.6 
1.4 
2.3 
4-8 
2.6 
i-S 
2.5 
4.2 
2-3 


Average 

Average  Variation. 


8.2 


10.3 
6.4 


8.2 


8.3 
S-4 


9.8 
3-3 


II. 3 
3-3 


8.7 
2.7 


0.9 


the  fact  that  a  unit  of  thought  had  been  given.  An  examination  of  the 
record  of  the  poor  readers  does  not  indicate  any  considerable  variation 
in  the  length  of  the  span  at  these  points.  Evidently  the  eye  has  travelled 
right  along,  the  voice  has  ignored  the  ending  of  a  unit  of  thought  and 
has  kept  its  regular  distance  behind  the  eye. 

A  second  point  of  difference  between  the  good  and  the  poor  readers 
is  shown  by  Figure  4  at  those  positions  falling  at  the  beginning  of 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  45 

sentences.  Positions  numbered  i  and  6  show  the  width  of  the  eye-voice 
span  at  the  beginning  of  two  sentences.  The  Hne  for  the  good  readers 
shows  a  wider  span  than  the  average,  at  these  points,  while  that  of  the 
poor  readers  varies  from  the  general  average  by  only  a  very  small 
amount.  This  gives  evidence  that  when  a  good  reader  begins  the 
reading  of  a  new  thought,  he  allows  the  eye  to  proceed  for  a  considerable 
distance  before  starting  to  read.  This  wide  initial  span  gives  him  an 
intelligent  grasp  of  the  nature  of  the  selection  before  beginning  to  read, 
and  enables  him  to  show  a  proper  interpretation  through  his  oral  expres- 
sion. The  line  for  the  poor  readers  shows  that  the  initial  span  is  no 
wider  than  the  average.  This  would  prevent  the  reader  from  obtain- 
ing a  longer  look  ahead  which  is  particularly  helpful  at  the  beginning 
of  a  sentence. 

The  line  for  the  poor  readers  differs  from  that  of  the  good  in  that 
it  has  only  a  small  variation  for  all  positions.  For  the  poor  reader, 
oral  reading  is  evidently  a  monotonous  process  of  passing  over  words 
without  any  great  attempt  to  emphasize  what  is  read.  The  good  reader 
varies  his  span  at  different  positions  in  the  selection  in  order  to  bring 
about  a  better  emphasis.  This  is  shown  in  Table  IV  by  the  difference 
in  the  average  variation  of  the  averages  for  all  positions.  For  the 
good  readers  the  average  variation  of  the  averages  is  2.9  letter-spaces, 
while  for  the  poor  readers  the  average  variation  is  0.9  letter-spaces. 
The  study  indicates,  therefore,  that  for  elementary-school  pupils  a 
variation  in  the  width  of  the  span  for  different  positions  is  a  charac- 
teristic of  good  reading  more  than  of  poor  reading,  and  that  for  good 
readers  the  span  is  wider  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence,  a  little  narrower 
within  a  sentence,  and  much  narrower  at  the  end  of  a  sentence.  The 
poor  readers  show  less  variation  and  exhibit  a  tendency  to  commence 
reading  as  soon  as  the  material  is  put  before  them,  having  a  narrower 
span  at  the  beginning  than  at  those  positions  within  the  sentence. 
These  data  are  very  suggestive  of  a  causal  relationship  between  width 
of  eye-voice  span  and  the  interpretation  of  meaning  as  exhibited  by 
the  treatment  of  a  sentence  as  a  unit  of  thought  and  the  modification 
of  the  eye- voice  span  to  fit  such  a  unit. 

The  data  showing  the  variation  of  the  span  by  position  in  the 
sentence  for  the  high-school  subjects  are  given  in  Table  V,  and  are 
expressed  graphically  in  Figure  5.  In  general,  the  results  are  com- 
parable with  those  of  the  elementary  subjects.  For  the  high-school 
selection,  positions  numbered  2,  3,  and  8  occur  at  the  end  of  sentences. 
'the  line  for  good  readers  shows  a  considerable  drop  in  the  eye-voice 


46 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


span  at  these  points,  while  the  drop  for  the  poor  readers  is  less  marked. 
The  positions  at  the  beginning  of  sentences  are  numbers  i  and  4.  Here 
both  the  good  and  the  poor  readers  show  a  span  which  is  wider  than 
the  average.  The  poor  readers  from  the  elementary  school  had  a 
narrower  span  at  the  beginning  of  sentences.  Evidently  by  the  time 
pupils  have  reached  the  high  school  they  have  learned  that  a  wider 

TABLE  V 

Average  Eye-Voice  Span  by  Position  in  Sentence — High- School  Subjects 


Grade 

Eye-Voice  Span  at  Positions  in  Paragr.aph 

Average 

Subject 

I 

2 

3 

4 

S 

6 

7 

8 

Average 
Variation 

Good  Readers 

Hi 

H2 

Hi 

H7 

F 

F 

F 

So 

So 

So 

J 

J 

J 

Se 

Se 

Se 

14 
14 

18 
IS 
13 

13 

13 

21 
10 

II 
14 
10 
12 
8 

16 
12 
12 
16 
17 

25 
12 
IS 

13 

20 
IS 

32 
15 

21 

18 

19.9 
14.3 
13.3 
12.0 
IS.S 
16.0 
13.8 
17.7 
12.3 
12.8 
23.0 

4.6 
i.S 

6 
8 

II 
23 

6 
16 

5.2 

4-7 

H8 

Hg 

H13 

26 
23 

22 

II 
14 
10 
17 

1 

18 

20 
IS 

7 
16 
II 

14 

Hl4 

His 

HlQ 

H20 

is" 

20 

26 
10 
10 

4.2 
1-9 
3-5 
7-0      . 

8          n 

30          16 

7           16 

14 

17 

H21 

13 

;:::::  :::::: 

Average 

Average  Variation.. 

17.2       13.9 
7.1          2.3 

12. 5 
2.3 

15-9 
2.2 

iS-9 

5-5 

13-5 
4-3 

19.0 
51 

13.6 

4-1 

15.2 

1.8 

10. 0 
12.0 
12.4  . 
14.1 

9.6 
13-8 

8.5 

4.7 
11.5 
13-9 
10.8 

F 

F 
F 
So 
So 
So 

} 

J 
Se 
Se 

Se 

Poor  Readers 

H4 

9 
14 
16 

II 
18 
II 
3 

15 
13 
17 

10 
II 

7 
14 

8 
IS 
12 

5 
12 

9 

9 
II 

II 
9 
19 
14 
8 
IS 
2 
3 
II 
22 
10 
9 

0.7 
2.0 
35 
3.3 

2.S 

2.0 
2.4 
2.0 
0.5 
3.6 
1.3 

Hs 

H6 

Hio 

Hii 

H12 

H16 

H17 

H18 

10 
14 
16 
13 
IS 
10 

10 
12 
24 

8 
12 

8 
10 

14 
13 

6 
15 

9 
10 

5 

13 

12 
8 

13 
9 

IS 

6 
13 

6 
13- 

6 

2 

H22 

H23 

H24 

18 
10 

9 
9 

15 
13 
10 

9 

II 

14 
II 
15 

Average 

Average  Variation. . 

12.7 
3-3 

103 

2.3 

II .  I 

4-3 

13.3 
2.5 

II. 3 
3.1 

II  .0 

3-0 

10.7 
I  -7 

10. I          II .2 

0.8 

span  at  these  positions  is  desirable  and  have  inhibited  the  tendency  to 
begin  to  read  as  soon  as  the  selection  is  put  before  them.  The  poor 
readers  from  the  high  school  look  ahead  enough  to  get  an  idea  of  the 
sentence  before  starting  to  read.  This  would  be  expected,  since  even 
a  poor  reader  in  the  high  school  reads  fairly  well,  while  a  poor  reader 
in  the  elementary  school  is  still  in  the  process  of  learning  to  read.  The 
line  for  the  poor  readers  is  more  uniform  than  that  of  the  good  readers, 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SP.\N 


47 


as  was  the  case  with  the  elementary  subjects.  Uniformity  for  the 
different  positions,  however,  is  evidently  an  indication  that  the  sentence 
as  a  unit  of  thought  is  being  ignored  and  that  the  eye  and  voice  travel 
along  with  little  regard  for  the  separation  of  thought  into  different 
sentences. 

A  summary  comparison  of  the  eye-voice  span  at  the  different  posi- 
tions in  the  sentence  is  given  in  Table  VI,  for  all  subjects.  Figure  6 
presents  these  same  results  graphically.  The  summaries  were  com- 
piled by  grouping  together  all  positions  occurring  at  the  beginning  of 


0. 

X 

\, 

/ 

\       i 

— X 

c. 

' 

\ 

1 
' 

\ 

-"^ 

a 

E 

B 

B 

W 

v»                      E 

I  2345678 

Fig.  5. — Average  eye- voice  span  by  position  in  sentence — high-school  subjects 


sentences  in  one  group,  those  occurring  within  the  sentence  in  another, 
and  those  falling  at  the  end  of  a  sentence  in  a  third  group.  The  table 
shows  the  results  of  this  grouping  for  the  elementary,  high-school,  and 
adult  subjects  separately,  and  also  for  all  fifty-four  subjects  together. 
In  each  table  the  results  for  the  good  and  the  poor  readers  are  separated. 

An  examination  of  these  data  reveals  two  conspicuous  facts:   first,) 
that  the  width  of  the  eye- voice  span  is  different  at  various  positions  in 
a  sentence,  and  secondly,  that  the  good  and  poor  readers  do  not  exhibit 
these  differences  in  the  same  fashion. 


48 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


The  results  of  the  investigation  show  that  for  the  entire  group  of 
fifty-four  subjects  the  eye-voice  span  is  15.9  letter-spaces  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  sentence,  13.4  spaces  within  the  sentence,  and  10. g  spaces 
at  the  end.  The  differences  are  even  more  marked  in  the  group  of 
twenty-seven  good  readers.  For  this  group  the  average  span  at  the 
beginning  of  a  sentence  is  18.7  letter-spaces,  within  the  sentence  16.5 
spaces,  and  at  the  end  11. 9  spaces.  The  average  span  for  the  good 
readers  at  the  beginning  is  greater  than  the  average  span  within  the 
sentence  by  13  per  cent  and  greater  than  the  average  at  the  end  of  the 
sentence  by  57  per  cent.     For  the  poor  readers  the  span  at  the  beginning 


TABLE  VI 

Average  Eye-Voice  Span  at  the   Beginning,  Within, 
Sentence— All  Subjects 


AND     AT    THE     EnT)    OF 


Subjects 


Elementary  subjects. 

Good  readers.  .  . 

Poor  readers. . . . 

Good  and  poor  . 
High-school  subjects 

Good  readers .  .  . 

Poor  readers. . . . 

Good  and  poor .  . 
Adult  subjects: 

Good  readers.  .  . 

Poor  readers.  .  . . 

Good  and  poor .  . 
All  subjects: 

Good  readers .  .  . 

Poor  readers. . . . 

Good  and  poor .  . 


Beginn 

ing  of 

Sentence 

16 

I 

8 

6 

12 

3 

16 

6 

12 

9 

14 

7 

23 

5 

17 

7 

20 

6 

18 

7 

13 

I 

15-9 


Within  Sentence 


14.8 

9-5 
12.  I 

16.  2 
II  .0 
13.6 

18.6 
10.8 
147 

16.5 
10.4 

13-4 


End  of  Sentence 


8.4 
7-9 


13- 
10. 


14.0 

II-3 
12.6 


II. 9 

9-9 
10.9 


is  greater  than  the  span  at  the  end  in  all  three  groups  of  subjects,  and 
is  greater  than  the  span  within  the  sentence  for  all  but  the  elementary 
pupils.  The  evidence  is  quite  conclusive,  therefore,  that  the  width  of 
the  eye-voice  span  varies  according  to  the  position  in  the  sentence. 

The  characteristics  of  the  variations  of  the  eye-voice  span  at  differ- 
ent positions  in  the  sentence  are  not  the  same  for  good  and  poor  readers. 
The  curve  for  the  good  readers  shows  more  regard  for  thought  units, 
with  the  highest  point  always  at  the  beginning  and  the  lowest  point 
always  at  the  end  of  the  sentence.  The  gross  change  in  the  width  of 
the  span  for  the  different  positions  also  is  greater  for  the  good  readers. 

The  fact  that  the  eye-voice  span  varies  with  the  position  in  the 
sentence  is  of  considerable  significance.     If  the  span  varied  only  with 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 


49 


<    S. 


^    m   n 


n) 

,3 

a 

■    ' 

c 

0) 

O 

^  M 


2     «! 


fi,      i/l 


50  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

the  position  in  the  hne,  as  Quantz's  study  indicated,  the  determining 
factors  would  be  entirely  mechanical,  and  would  be  governed  by  the 
printed  form  of  the  selection.  The  control  of  the  span,  in  that  case, 
would  be  a  matter  of  the  mechanics  of  book  construction,  and  would 
be  independent  of  any  teaching  factor.  But  if  the  span  varies  with 
the  position  in  the  sentence,  it  is  evident  that  the  content  of  the  mean- 
ing is  recognized,  and  that  the  eye-voice  span  is  determined  by  thought 
units  rather  than  by  printed  line  units.  Position  in  the  line  may  be  a 
minor  factor,  as  the  results  of  this  study  showed  a  slightly  narrower 
span  at  the  end  of  a  line,  but  the  differences  due  to  position  in  the 
sentence  are  much  greater. 

For  all  three  classes  of  subjects,  there  is  agreement  among  the  good 
readers  in  that  a  wide  eye- voice  span  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  a  sen- 
tence. The  situation  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence  is  different  from 
that  of  any  other  position.  After  one  has  started  to  read,  the  mean- 
ing of  the  thought  covered  will  carry  him  along  to  some  extent,  and 
will  enable  him  to  anticipate  what  is  coming.  At  the  beginning  of  a 
sentence  there  is  no  sequence  of  words  to  give  one  the  cue  to  the  content 
of  the  new  thought.  The  only  way  to  get  this  is  to  look  ahead  until 
the  meaning  of  the  sentence  is  partially  recognized,  and  the  kind  of 
vocal  expression  needed  is  made  clear.  The  good  readers  recognize 
this  need  for  a  wider  span  at  the  outset  and  inhibit  the  voice  reaction 
until  the  eye  has  gained  a  considerable  lead.  The  poor  readers  in  the 
grades  above  the  elementary  school  have  also  learned  this,  but  evidently 
those  in  the  elementary  school  are  not  mature  enough  in  reading  to 
recognize  any  special  difficulty  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence.  Instead 
of  making  a  relatively  longer  span,  they  react  to  the  situation  by  a 
relatively  shorter  one.  They  begin  to  read  as  soon  as  they  see  the 
sentence,  and  have  not  learned  to  inhibit  their  reading  until  the  eye  has 
taken  in  a  larger  unit  of  meaning.  This  difficulty  could  be  easily  cor- 
rected by  a  little  training  in  class  which  would  teach  the  pupils  to  wait 
before  starting  to  read  until  they  get  a  larger  unit  of  thought. 

The  evidence  of  all  subjects  agrees  that  there  is  a  shorter  span  at 
the  end  of  a  sentence.  The  good  readers  have  a  relatively  shorter  span 
than  the  poor  readers.  The  explanation  of  this  shorter  span  goes  back 
again  to  the  fact  that  the  sentence  is  the  large  unit  of  meaning.  When 
the  eye  reaches  the  end  of  this  unit  it  modifies  its  movements  according 
to  the  meaning  recognized  and  the  voice  catches  up  before  beginning 
the  new  thought.  In  order  that  the  voice  shall  express  the  thought 
clearly,  a  pause  is  necessary  at  the  end  of  the  sentence.     This  pause 


THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  5 1 

gives  the  eye  ample  opportunity  for  a  large  eye-voice  span  before  it  is 
time  to  commence  the  next  sentence.  A  poor  reader  pays  less  attention 
to  the  sentence  as  a  unit  of  meaning.  This  is  especially  true  of  younger 
children  who  are  very  immature  readers.  For  them  the  whole  process  is  a 
more  or  less  monotonous  repetition  of  words  as  they  are  encountered. 
The  eye  moves  along  at  a  regular  rate  and  the  voice  follows.  The  end 
of  a  sentence  creates  no  special  disturbance  for  it  is  passed  over  with 
little  attention.  Consequently  there  is  little  change  in  the  eye-voice 
span.  The  curve  for  the  poor  readers  from  the  elementary  school 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  some  such  situation  exists.  There  is  little 
variation  in  the  width  of  the  span  for  any  position  in  the  sentence.  If 
the  variation  in  eye- voice  span  at  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  a  sentence 
makes  possible  a  greater  emphasis  on  meaning,  the  lack  of  such  a  varia- 
tion may  account  for  the  fact  that  the  subjects  showing  such  lack  are 
classed  as  poor  readers. 

Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  reading  rate. — In  the  previous  sections 
of  this  chapter  it  has  been  shown  that  a  wide  eye-voice  span  correlates 
with  good  reading  and  also  with  certain  positions  in  the  sentence. 
Since  numerous  studies  have  shown  a  correlation  between  quality  and 
rate  of  reading,  it  would  be  of  interest  to  find  if  the  eye-voice  span  is 
related  to  rate  in  the  same  way.  Accordingly,  a  study  was  made  of 
the  relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  reading  rate  for  the  subjects  in  the 
elementary  school,  the  high  school,  and  for  the  entire  group  of  subjects 
taken  together.  The  reading  rate  of  each  subject  was  taken  with  the 
same  material  at  the  time  of  the  experiment.  Comparisons  are  given 
both  in  terms  of  rate  per  second  and  the  average  eye-voice  span.  The 
data  for  the  elementary  school  are  given  in  Table  VII,  for  the  high  school 
in  Table  VIII,  and  for  all  subjects  taken  together  in  Table  IX.  The 
figures  showing  the  same  data  are  numbered  to  correspond  with  the 
tables. 

Table  VII  gives  the  data  for  the  elementary  subjects  and  should  be 
read  as  follows:  Using  rate  per  second  as  a  base,  it  was  found  that  one 
subject  had  a  rate  falling  between  o  and  o .  9  words  per  second  and  an 
eye-voice  span  of  3.4  letter-spaces,  two  subjects  had  rates  falling 
between  i  and  i .  9  words  per  second  and  an  average  eye-voice  span  of 
5.7  letter-spaces,  nine  subjects  had  rates  falling  between  2  and  2.9 
words  per  second  and  an  average  span  of  11 .6  spaces,  etc.  The  second 
part  of  the  table  gives  the  data  based  upon  eye-voice  span  instead  of 
rate,  and  should  be  read:  Two  subjects  had  average  spans  of  between 
3  and  5  letter-spaces  and  an  average  rate  of  0.8  words  per  second,  six 


52 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


TABLE  VII 

Relation  of  Eye- Voice  Span  to  Reading  Rate — 

Elementary  Subjects 


Number  of 
Subjects 

Rate  of  Words 
PER  Second 

Average  Eye-Voice 

Span 

By  Rate 

I 

0-0.9 
1-1.9 
2-2.9 
3-3-9 
4-4-9 

3-4 

5-7 

II. 6 

2 

Q 

9 

12.6 

•? 

12. 5 

By  Eye-Voice  Span 

2.  . 

0.8 
2.6 

3-1 
2.9 
4.0 
3-6 

3-5 
6-8 

6 

c 

9-1 1 
12-14 

15-17 
18-20 

8 

I 

2 

0-0.9 


'--2-9    3-39    4-49  3-5      6-8    9-11   12-14  15-17  18-20 

By  rate  By  eye-voice  span 

Fig.  7. — Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  reading  rate — elementary  subjects.  By 
rate:  words  per  second  shown  on  horizontal  axis;  average  eye-voice  span  on  vertical 
axis.  By  eye-voice  span:  words  per  second  shown  on  vertical  axis;  average  eye-voice 
span  on  horizontal  axis. 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  53 

subjects  had  spans  falling  between  6  and  8  letter-spaces  and  an  average 
rate  of  2  . 6  words  per  second,  etc.  The  tables  and  figures  for  the  elemen- 
tary subjects  show  a  high  positive  correlation  between  rapid  reading  and 
a  wide  eye- voice  span. 

The  comparisons  for  the  high-school  pupils  are  given  in  Table  VIII 
and  Figure  8.  Here  again  a  positive  correlation  is  shown  between 
rapid  reading  and  a  wide  span.  The  reading  rates  of  the  high-school 
subjects  are  more  nearly  uniform  than  those  of  the  elementary  school, 
all  falling  within  the  interval  between  2  and  4.9  words  per  second. 
The  second  figure  showing  the  relation  between  rate  and  eye-voice  span, 
by  using  the  average  span  for  a  base,  exhibits  a  very  great  variation  in 
the  average  eye-voice  spans.  The  extremes  on  both  ends  of  the  curve 
are  represented  by  only  a  single  subject  and  because  of  this  small  num- 
ber of  cases  the  line  for  the  extremes  is  dotted  instead  of  solid.  The 
curves  are  not  so  steep  as  those  for  the  elementary  school  because  the 
increase  in  rate  is  less  during  the  high-school  years. 

Table  IX  and  Figure  9  give  the  results  for  the  entire  group  of  fifty- 
four  subjects.  The  evidence  here  is  perfectly  clear  that  a  wide  eye-voice 
span  is  a  characteristic  of  rapid  readers  for  subjects  of  all  grades  of 
advancement  from  the  second  grade  of  the  elementary  school  to  the 
college. 

It  has  been  shown  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  that  some  good 
readers  in  the  fifth  grade  have  an  eye-voice  span  as  wide  as  many  high- 
school  pupils.  If  it  is  possible  to  develop  a  wide  eye-voice  span  in  the 
first  four  years  of  school  it  would  be  an  aid  not  only  to  quality  of  reading 
but  also  to  rate.  A  training  experiment,  with  this  aim  in  view,  for 
pupils  in  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  grades,  would  furnish  an  interest- 
ing problem  for  further  research. 

The  fact  that  a  wide  eye-voice  span  provides  a  larger  unit  of  reading 
material  which  can  be  covered  by  the  eye  before  the  voice  reaches  it 
makes  possible  a  more  rapid  oral  presentation  of  the  unit  without  failing 
to  give  each  word  its  proper  emphasis.  The  total  time  for  reading  such 
a  unit  may  be  reduced  by  rapid  reading,  without  changing  the  relative 
amount  of  time  given  to  its  parts  for  the  sake  of  proper  expression. 
This  cannot  be  done,  however,  unless  the  eye-voice  span  is  wide  enough 
to  provide  a  large  unit  of  meaning.  Rapid  reading  without  a  corres- 
pondingly wide  eye-voice  span  would  be  a  monotonous  or  "sing-song" 
pronunciation  of  words. 

Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  number  of  fixations. — An  examination  of 
plates  giving  the  records  of  eye-movement  will  show  that  the  number 


54 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


TABLE  VHI 
Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Reading  Rate- 
School  Subjects 


-High- 


Number  of 
Subjects 

Rate  in  Words        |    Average  Eye-Voice 
PER  Second           i                  Span 

By  Rate 

I 

2-2.9 
3-3-9 
4-4-9 

10. 0 

i6   

12.6 

7- 

14.6 

By  Eye-Voice  Span 

I . 
I . 

4- 
14- 

2. 
I  . 

3 
4 
3 
3 
4 
3 
4 

3 
5 
4 
8 
0 

9 

8 

3-5 

6-8 

9-11 

12-14 

15-17 
18-20 

I  . 

21-23 

rate 
axis. 


By  rate  By  eye-voice  span 

Fig.  8. — Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  reading  rate — high-school  subjects.     By 
:   words  per  second  shown  on  horizontal  axis;  average  eye-voice  span  on  vertical 
By  eye- voice  span:  words  per  second  shown  on  vertical  axis;  average  eye-voice 


span  on  horizontal  axis. 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 


55 


TABLE  IX 

Relation  of  Eye- Voice  Span  to  Reading  Rate — All 
Subjects 


Number  of 
Subjects 

Rate  of  Words 
PER  Second 

Average  Eye-Voice 

Span 

By  Rate 

I            

0-0.9 
1-1.9 

2-2.9 

3-3-9 
4-4.9 

3-4 

5-7 

II-3 

12.7 

16.5 

2 

lO 

29 

12  .               

By  Eye-Voice  Span 

3- 

7 

1.6 
2.9 
3-3 
3-5 
4-1 
3-8 
4.8 

3-5 
6-8 

10              

9-1 1 
12-14 

15-17 
18-20 

24 

4 

c 

I 

21-23 

By  rate  By  eye-voice  span 

Fig.  9. — Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  reading  rate — all  subjects.  By  rate:  words 
per  second  shown  on  horizontal  axis;  average  eye-voice  span  on  vertical  axis.  By 
€ye-voice  span:  words  per  second  shown  on  vertical  axis;  average  eye- voice  span  on 
horizontal  axis. 


56 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


of  fixation  pauses  per  line  varies  from  subject  to  subject.  Table  X 
gives  the  relation  of  the  width  of  the  eye-voice  span  to  the  number  of 
fixations  per  line,  both  by  eye-voice  span  and  by  number  of  fixations. 
This  table  using  eye-voice  span  as  a  base  should  be  read  as  follows: 
Three  subjects  had  an  average  eye-voice  span  of  from  3  to  5  letter- 
spaces  with  an  average  of  13  fixations  per  line;  seven  subjects  had  an 
average  span  of  6  to  8  letter-spaces  with  an  average  of  12  fixations  per 
line,  etc.  The  second  table  is  read  in  the  same  manner  using  the  aver- 
age number  of  fixations  per  line  as  a  base.     Figure  10  gives  a  graphic 

TABLE  X 

Relation  of  Eye-Voice  Span  to  Average  Number  of  Fixa- 
tions PER  Line — All  Subjects* 


Number  of 
Subjects 

Average  Eye -Voice 
Span 

Number  of 
Fixations 

By  Eye-Voice  Span 

3 

3-5 

6-8 

9-1 1 

12-14 

15-17 
18-20 
21-23 

13 
12 

9 
9 

7 
7 
9 

0 
0 

10 

3 
0 

9 

5 
0 

24 

4 

5 

I 

By  Number  of  Fixations 

13- 
26. 
10. 

151 
12.8 

II-5 

7-3 

12.5 

5-7 

6-7 
8-9 

lO-II 

2 

12-1^ 

I 

2 

14-15 
16-UD 

*  Lines  5  and  6  in  high-school  selection  omitted. 

representation  of  the  same  data.  The  dotted  lines  at  the  right  of  each 
curve  indicate  that  a  limited  number  of  subjects  occurs  at  the  extremes, 
and  that  the  variation  in  the  general  form  of  the  curve  is  not  a  charac- 
teristic of  the  subjects  as  a  group.  In  each  case  the  break  in  the  general 
form  of  the  curve  is  caused  by  a  single  subject. 

The  curves  indicate  a  negative  correlation  between  the  width  of  the 
eye-voice  span  and  the  number  of  fixations  per  line.  As  the  size  of  the 
span  increases  the  number  of  fixations  decreases.  All  of  the  previous 
studies  of  eye-movement  have  shown  that  a  small  number  of  fixations 
per  line  is  a  characteristic  of  good  readers.     Consequently  it  would  be 


THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN 


57 


expected  that  the  kind  of  correlation  shown  by  Figure  lo  would  exist. 
An  experiment  attempting  to  reduce  the  number  of  fixations  per  line 
by  training  for  a  wider  eye-voice  span  might  give  some  interesting 
results. 

Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  regressive  movements. — One  of  the  charac- 
teristic features  of  both  oral  and  silent  reading  is  that  the  eye  fixations 
do  not  progress  continuously  across  a  line,  but  that  their   progress  is 


Fig.  io. — Relation  of  eye- voice  span  to  average  number  of  fixations  per  line — all 
subjects.  By  eye-voice  span:  average  eye-voice  span  shown  on  horizontal  axis; 
average  number  fixations  per  line  on  vertical  axis.  By  number  of  fixations:  average 
number  of  fixations  per  line  on  horizontal  axis;  average  eye-voice  span  on  vertical  axis. 

interrupted  from  time  to  time  by  backward  or  regressive  movements. 
The  number  and  length  of  these  regressive  movements  varies  with  differ- 
ent subjects,  but  they  are  found  on  the  records  of  all  readers.  The 
backward  movement  of  the  eye  is  evidence  that  the  reader  has  not 
grasped  the  entire  meaning  of  the  words  which  the  eye  has  passed  over 
and  that  a  second  fixation  is  needed. 

It  would  be  expected  that  subjects  having  a  wide  eye-voice  span 
would  be  able  to  get  the  meaning  of  a  sentence  with  fewer  regressive 


S8 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


movements  than  those  keeping  the  eye  and  voice  close  together.  Accord- 
ingly, a  study  was  made  of  the  relation  of  the  eye- voice  span  to  the  num- 
ber of  regressive  movements  per  line.  The  results  appear  in  Table  XL 
No  consistent  relationship  is  shown  by  this  table,  except  that  the  sub- 
jects having  the  largest  number  of  regressive  movements  have  a  some- 
what narrower  span. 

The  fact  that  no  correlation  was  made  apparent  by  this  method  of 
comparison  indicates  that  either  none  existed  or  that  complicating 
factors  were  ofif-setting  each  other.  If  the  plates  reproduced  in  the  first 
part  of  this  chapter  are  studied,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  different 
kinds  of  regressive  movements. 

Plates  VI  and  VII  will  serve  to  illustrate  these  different  types  of 
regressive  movements.     Plate  VI  shows  that  this  reader  makes  a  great 


TABLE  XI 

Relation  of  Eye- Voice  Span  to  Number  of  Regressive 
Movements  per  Line 


Number  of  Subjects 

Average  Number 

Regressive  Movements 

per  Line 

Average  Eye-Voice 
Span 

7 

29 

10 

0-0.9 
I-I.9 
2-2.9 
3-3-9 
4-4-9 
5-5-9 

12.9 
12.8 
13.2 
10. 0 

6 

0 

2 

5-7 

many  regressive  movements,  averaging  5.8  per  line.  If  the  serial  order 
of  the  fixations  is  followed  it  will  be  observed  that  there  is  a  continual 
forward  and  backward  movement  all  along  the  line.  Of  the  first  10 
fixations  in  the  first  line  5  are  preceded  by  regressive  movements. 
Eleven  fixations  with  5  regressive  movements  are  required  to  recognize 
the  first  three  words.  The  cause  of  such  regressive  movements  is  not 
that  the  eye  passes  over  words  too  rapidly  and  returns  to  observe  some 
part  which  has  been  overlooked,  but  a  general  confusion  and  inability 
to  recognize  the  words  after  the  eye  has  seen  them.  This  kind  of 
regressive  movement  is  the  mark  of  very  poor  reading  ability. 

Plate  VII  shows  the  record  of  a  subject  who  also  has  a  large  number 
of  regressive  movements,  averaging  3 .  i  per  line.  It  is  plainly  evident, 
however,  that  these  backward  movements  are  of  an  entirely  different 
type  from  those  in  Plate  VI.     In  the  first  line  the  movement  from 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SP.\N  59 

fixation  5  to  fixation  6  is  in  the  backward  direction.  The  reason  for 
this  appears  to  be  that  the  eye  has  attempted  too  much  in  trying  to 
finish  the  line  by  one  fixation  after  number  4.  It  risked  a  long  jump, 
failed  to  grasp  the  entire  meaning,  and  moved  back  to  pick  up  the  part 
missed.  Good  reading  demands  that  the  jump  from  fixation  to  fixation 
be  as  long  as  possible.  This  reader  attempts  very  long  eye-movements  " 
all  through  the  selection.  Occasionally  he  fails  to  grasp  as  much  as  the  ,' 
eye  covers  and  the  eye  must  make  a  regressive  movement  to  recover 
the  words  missed.  In  such  a  situation,  a  regressive  movement  is  a  '' 
characteristic  of  good  rather  than  of  poor  reading.  It  is  just  the  opposite 
of  the  practice  of  the  reader  shown  in  Plate  VI.  For  him,  the  regres- 
sive movements  were  not  the  result  of  attempting  too  long  an  eye- 
movement,  but  were  caused  by  the  necessity  of  seeing  every  detail  of^ 
a  word  before  being  able  to  recognize  it.  The  important  facts  about 
regressive  movements  are  neither  their  number  nor  their  length,  but  are 
rather  concerned  with  the  eye-movements  which  precede  them.  A 
study  of  regressive  movements  must,  therefore,  be  based  upon  the 
preceding  eye-movements.  Subject  E6,  shown  in  Plate  VII,  made  16 
regressive  movements.  Of  these,  nine  followed  eye-movements  of 
more  than  ordinary  length,  being  in  terms  of  letter-spaces:  9-9-1 1-12- 
13-15-16-16  and  20.  Backward  eye-movements  were  necessary  for 
this  subject  because  the  eye  had  attempted  to  cover  too  long  a  distance 
in  the  preceding  movement.  But  the  effort  to  cover  a  long  distance  is 
certainly  desirable  and  is  characteristic  of  a  mature  reader.  Compare 
the  record  of  this  reader  with  that  of  Subject  E3,  shown  in  Plate  VI. 
This  subject  made  29  regressive  movements,  and  the  ten  longest  eye- 
movements  preceding  them  are  as  follows:  8-6-5-5-4-4-4-4-4  and  3. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  this  subject  needed  to  make  backward  move- 
ments because  he  attempted  too  much.  His  regressive  movements 
were  caused  by  an  entirely  different  reason,  and  they  must  be  classified 
as  a  different  type  from  those  of  Subject  E6. 

Such  facts  as  the  above  make  it  clear  that  regressive  movements 
cannot  be  treated  as  if  they  were  all  of  the  same  nature.  They  must 
be  analyzed  into  their  various  types  and  each  type  treated  separately. 
For  the  purpose  of  this  study,  those  regressive  movements  are  most 
important  which  are  caused  by  the  eye  attempting  to  cover  too  much 
and  failing  in  the  attempt.  It  would  be  expected  that  a  reader  having 
a  wide  eye-voice  span  would  make  a  larger  proportion  of  this  type  of 
regressive  movements  than  of  any  other.  Accordingly  a  comparison 
was  made  to  see  what  relation  existed. 


6o  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SP.\N  IN  READING 

The  records  of  each  of  the  subjects  were  studied  and  the  length  of 
each  eye-movement-just-preceding-a-regressive-movement  was  tabu- 
lated. It  was  found  that,  for  the  elementary  subjects,  the  good  readers 
had  an  average  length  of  this  eye-movement  of  8.6  letter-spaces  as 
compared  with  5.7  spaces  for  the  poor  readers.  This  led  to  a  further 
analysis  of  the  material.  A  tabulation  of  the  average  length  of  the 
eye-movements-just-preceding-regressive-movements  for  all  fifty-four 
subjects  showed  that  the  median  length  of  these  movements  was  7  letter- 
spaces  and  that  the  upper  quartile  included  all  averages  greater  than 

8  letter-spaces.  Since  this  analysis  is  concerned  only  with  regressive 
movements  which  are  caused  by  the  eye  attempting  too  great  a  move- 
ment, the  eye-movements  falling  in  this  upper  c^uartile,  those  9  or  more 
letter-spaces  in  length,  were  selected  for  study.  Accordingly,  a  tabula- 
tion was  made  of  the  percentage  of  those  eye-movements  which  were 

9  or  more  letter-spaces  in  length.  Since  all  of  these  eye-movements 
were  among  the  upper  25  per  cent  of  the  total  in  length,  the  regressive 
movements  following  them  can  be  attributed  to  an  attempt  to  make 
too  long  a  movement  of  the  eye.  A  comparison  can  therefore  be  made 
showing  the  relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  this  particular  type  of  regres- 
sive movement. 

This  comparison  is  shown  by  Table  XII  and  Figure  11.  In  this 
table  the  first  column  gives  the  number  of  subjects  in  each  division. 
The  second  column  gives  the  percentage  of  eye-movements-just- 
preceding-regressive-movements  9  or  more  letter-spaces  in  length. 
The  third  column  gives  the  average  eye- voice  span  for  those  subjects 
corresponding  to  each  percentage.  The  table  should  be  read  as  follows: 
There  are  16  subjects  having  from  o  to  9  per  cent  of  their  eye-movements- 
just-preceding-regressive-movements  9  or  more  letter-spaces  in  length, 
and  their  average  eye-voice  span  is  10.5  letter-spaces;  there  are  3 
subjects  having  from'  10  to  19  per  cent  of  their  eye-movements-just- 
preceding-regressive-movements  9  or  more  letter-spaces  in  length,  and 
their  average  eye- voice  span  is  7 . 9  letter-spaces.  Figure  1 1  shows  the 
data  graphically.  The  dotted  part  at  the  upper  end  of  the  curve  signifies 
that  only  a  limited  number  of  subjects,  one  for  each  position,  is  repre- 
sented. The  dotted  line  at  the  beginning  of  the  curve  signifies  that  the 
first  figure  is  a  complex  and  needs  further  analysis.  Some  of  the  sub- 
jects having  from  o  to  9  per  cent  of  their  eye-movements-just-preceding- 
regressive-movements  9  or  more  letter-spaces  in  length  should  not 
properly  be  used.  There  are  five  good  readers  having  o  per  cent  of 
these  long  eye-movements  because  they  have  only  a  few  regressive 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN 


6i 


movements  of  any  kind.  These  five  subjects  have  an  average  of  less 
than  one  regressive  movement  per  Hne.  With  this  allowance  for  the 
first  number,  the  curve  is  a  true  representation  of  the  relation  of  the 
eye-voice  span  to  the  regressive  movements  caused  by  too  long  an  eye- 
movement-just-preceding-a-regressive-movement. 


TABLE  XII 

Relation    of    Eye-Voice    Span  to   Eye-Movemexts-Just- 
Preceding-Regressive-Movements — All  Subjects 


Number  of 

Subjects 

Percentage  of  Regressive 

Movements  Preceded 

by  Very  Long 

Eye-Movements 

A 

•erage  Eye-Voice 
Span 

i6 

2 

0-9 
lo-ig 
20-29 

30-39 
40-49 

50-59 
60-69 
70-79 
80-89 

IO-5 
7-9 

10.7 

II-5 
14.9 
16.6 

9 

5 

8 

6 

i; 

I 

I 

13-7 
13-9 

iyC^i-^ 


'd*.<'i-<Mj 


0-9 


10-19 


30-39  40-49 


60-69  70-79         80-89 


Fig.  II. — Relation  of  eye-voice  span  to  eye-movements-just-preceding-regressive- 
movements — all  subjects.  Average  eye-voice  span  on  vertical  axis.  Percentage  of 
very  long  eye-movements-just-preceding-regressive-movements  on  horizontal  axis. 


62  A  STUI)\    OF  THE  EYK-XOICE  SP.\N  IN  READING 

This  correlation  makes  it  clear  that  this  type  of  regressive  movement 
is  an  indication  of  mature  reading  habits,  and  that  it  is  a  characteristic 
of  good  readers  to  risk  a  long  eye-movement.  It  also  makes  it  clear 
that  the  regressive  movements  of  subjects  having  a  wide  eye-voice  span 
are  caused  in  a  greater  percentage  of  cases  by  attempting  a  long  eye- 
movement,  while  those  regressive  movements  of  subjects  having  a 
narrow  eve-voice  span  are  caused  more  often  by  confusion  in  reading 
and  other  unanalyzed  dillficulties.  In  the  first  case  the  regressive  move- 
ments are  sacrifices  made  in  an  effort  to  use  a  longer  eye-movement; 
in  the  second  case  they  are  in  most  instances  merely  attempts  to  correct 
difficulties  which  should  never  exist  and  which  are  not  common  among 
mature  readers. 

SUMMARY   OF    ANALYSIS    OF   EYE-VOICE    SPAN 

The  relations  of  the  eye-voice  span  to  other  factors  of  reading  as 
<lescribed  in  this  chapter  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

1.  There  is  a  positive  correlation  between  a  wide  eye-voice  span 
and  mature  reading.  The  average  span  for  good  readers  is  greater  than 
that  of  poor  readers  in  every  school  grade. 

2.  The  development  of  the  eye-voice  span  through  the  school  period 
does  not  show  a  consistent  increase  from  grade  to  grade,  but  is  very 
irregular.  The  average  span  for  the  high  school  is  greater  than  that  of 
the  elementary  school.  The  average  span  of  the  adult  subjects  is 
greater  than  that  of  those  from  the  high  school.  But  some  good  readers 
from  the  elementary  school  have  a  span  greater  than  most  of  the  high- 
school  subjects. 

3.  The  width  of  the  eye- voice  span  shows  little  correlation  with 
position  in  the  line,  except  that  the  span  at  the  end  of  a  fine  is  slightly 
narrower.  A  high  correlation  is  shown  between  eye-voice  span  and 
position  in  the  sentence.  The  average  width  of  the  span  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  sentence  is  greater  than  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  by  46  per 
cent,  while  the  average  within  the  sentence  is  greater  than  that  at  the 
end  by  23  per  cent.  These  percentages  are  for  all  fifty-four  subjects 
including  both  good  and  poor  readers. 

4.  A  comparison  of  reading  rate  with  eye-voice  span  shows  that 
rate  of  reading  and  width  of  eye-voice  span  increase  together.  There 
is  a  high  positive  correlation  between  these  two  factors  of  reading. 

5.  A  negative  correlation  exists  between  the  eye- voice  span  and  the 
number  of  fixations  per  line.  As  the  span  increases  in  width  the  num- 
ber of  fixations  per  line  decreases. 


THE  EYE-VOICE  SP.\X  63 

6.  Little  correlation  is  evident  between  eye-voice  span  and  the 
number  of  regressive  movements  per  line.  However  if  the  regressive 
movements  are  analyzed  into  their  various  types,  a  positive  correlation 
is  shown  between  eye-voice  span  and  that  type  of  regressive  move- 
ments caused  by  too  long  a  forward  sweep  of  the  eye.  As  the  width 
of  the  eye-voice  span  increases,  the  percentage  of  regressive  move- 
ments caused  by  this  habit  of  attempting  a  long  forward  movement 
increases.  This  type  of  regressive  movements  must  be  considered  as  a 
characteristic  of  mature  reading. 

This  study  shows  that  a  wide  eye-voice  span  occurs  in  common 
with  good  quality  of  reading,  rapid  rate  of  reading,  a  small  number  of 
fixations  per  line,  and  a  certain  type  of  regressive  movements.  All  of 
these  qualities  may  be  described  as  characteristic  of  a  mature  reader. 
It  is  also  evident  from  the  data  shown  that  a  narrow  eye-voice  span 
occurs  with  a  poor  quality  of  reading,  a  slow  rate,  a  large  number  of 
fixations  per  line,  and  a  larger  percentage  of  a  type  of  regressive  move- 
ments which  are  not  characteristic  of  good  reading.  These  qualities 
may  be  considered  as  characteristic  of  persons  whose  reading  habits  are 
immature. 

The  results  of  the  preceding  analysis  make  it  very  clear  that  the 
development  of  a  wide  eye-voice  span  is  a  significant  element  in  oral 
reading.  As  will  be  shown  later,  in  silent  reading  a  similar  meaning- 
recognition  span  exists  which  appears  to  be  closely  related,  in  its  develop- 
ment, to  the  eye-voice  span.  Since  the  width  of  eye-voice  span  is  a 
factor  of  mature  reading  it  should  receive  very  definite  attention  in 
methods  of  teaching  reading.  However,  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  allusion 
to  the  subject  in  any  of  the  method  texts  or  manuals.  No  evidence 
can  be  found  that  elementary  teachers  in  the  public  schools  give  any 
attention  to  the  problem  in  their  teaching,  probably  because  no  specific 
methods  are  available  for  dealing  with  it.  Expert  teachers  of  primary 
reading  have  worked  out  a  few  devices,  based  upon  rapid  scanning  of 
phrases  and  the  use  of  familiar  material,  which  they  use  in  their  own 
classes,  but  they  say  that  there  is  nothing  available  in  the  literature  of 
reading  methods  which  deals  specifically  with  training  for  a  wider  eye- 
voice  span.  It  is  not  the  function  of  this  investigation  to  devise  methods 
of  teaching,  but  it  is  in  place  to  state  that  here  is  a  significant  factor  of 
reading  which  is  in  need  of  specific  training  methods.  .  The  problem  is 
to  devise  methods  which  will  develop  a  habit  of  pushing  the  eye  farther 
ahead  of  the  voice  in  order  that  there  may  be  an  interpretation  of 
meaning  in  larger  units. 


CHAPTER  III 

CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE 

In  the  preceding  chapter  an  analysis  was  made  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  eye-voice  span  at  certain  positions  in  the  selections  used.  It  is 
desirable  to  know  the  characteristics  of  the  span  at  every  word  and 
every  fixation  rather  than  simply  at  intervals  through  a  paragraph. 
Such  an  analysis  is  of  interest  for  two  reasons:  first,  it  shows  the  con- 
tinuous relationship  of  the  eye  and  voice  and  the  manner  i^  which  the 
variations  in  the  width  of  the  span  take  place,  and  secondly,  it  explains 
in  a  measure,  the  behavior  of  the  eye  during  the  very  long  fixation 
pauses  which  occasionally  occur.  Such  an  analysis  as  just  described 
will  be  presented  in  this  chapter. 

METHOD 

It  has  been  explained  that  a  dictaphone  record  was  taken  of  the 
oral  reading  of  each  subject  at  the  time  the  eye-movements  were  photo- 
graphed. By  means  of  the  electric  bell  and  reversed  camera  shutter, 
described  in  the  introduction,  it  was  possible  to  synchronize  the  voice 
with  the  eye-movement  record  on  the  film.  By  this  means  the  position 
of  the  eye  and  voice  at  the  same  instant  could  be  determined  at  intervals 
through  the  reading.  These  locations  were  shown  in  the  plates  in  the 
preceding  chapter.  By  using  these  locations  as  basic  points,  the  rela- 
tion of  the  eye  and  voice  at  any  succeeding  point  could  be  determined  by 
measuring  equal  units  of  time  from  these  bases.  The  installation  of  a 
special  spring  motor  in  the  dictaphone,  which  runs  with  uniform  speed 
from  revolution  to  revolution,  insures  accuracy  for  the  voice  measure- 
ment. The  measurement  of  time  for  the  eye  is  accomplished  by  adding 
together  the  duration  of  the  fixations,  while  for  the  voice  it  is  measured 
by  taking  the  time  with  a  stop-watch  from  the  basic  points  to  each  of 
the  following  words  as  they  are  pronounced  on  the  dictaphone  record. 
This  method  will  he  made  clear  in  the  next  paragraph  by  reference  to  a 
diagram  in  one  of  the  plates. 

Plate  XXI  shows  the  record  of  Subject  Hi,  a  good  reader  from  the 
freshman  class.  The  selection  has  been  dupHcated  in  parallel  lines  in 
order  to  show  the  eye-voice  relationship  more  clearly.     The  upper  line 

64 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE   AND  VOICE  65 

of  the  pairs  may  be  called  the  eye-line,  and  shows  the  position  and  dura- 
tion of  eye-lixations  in  the  same  manner  as  in  all  of  the  preceding  plates. 
The  lower  line  of  the  pairs  may  be  called  the  voice-line.  The  diagonal 
lines  connect  the  positions  of  the  eye  and  voice  for  every  fixation. 

In  the  record  shown  in  Plate  XXI,  the  positions  of  the  eye  and  voice 
were  synchronized  first  as  the  voice  was  pronouncing  the  word  "two" 
in  line  i.  As  the  voice  began  to  pronounce  "two"  the  eye  was  fixated 
on  the  last  letter  of  the  word  "were,"  which  is  the  fifth  fixation  in  the 
line.  These  two  points  may  therefore  be  taken  as  a  base  of  measure- 
ment for  the  determination  of  the  relative  positions  of  the  eye  and 
voice  at  the  succeeding  words  and  fixations.  It  will  be  observed  by 
reference  to  the  plate,  that  34  (20+14)  fiftieths  of  a  second  elapsed  dur- 
ing fixations  5  and  6.  The  time  on  the  stop-watch  showed  that  at  a 
point  34  fiftieths  of  a  second  after  beginning  to  pronounce  "two,"  the 
voice  had  not  begun  to  pronounce  the  next  word,  indicating  that  fixa- 
tions 5  and  6  were  both  made  during  the  time  used  l)y  the  voice  in 
reading  the  word  "two."  From  fixation  5  to  the  end  of  fixation  7  a 
time  of  57  (20+14+23)  fiftieths  of  a  second  elapsed.  The  record  from 
the  stop-watch  and  the  dictaphone  showed  that  during  the  interval  from 
34  fiftieths  of  a  second  to  57  fiftieths,  the  voice  had  pronounced  the 
words  "men"  and  "were."  By  a  continuation  of  this  form  of  analysis, 
the  relative  positions  of  the  eye  and  voice  were  located  for  every  word 
and  every  fixation. 

The  accuracy  of  the  dictaphone  time  record  was  made  possible  by 
the  installation  of  a  special  motor  which  runs  with  constant  speed  from 
revolution  to  revolution.  Only  a  limited  number  of  subjects  were 
given  this  form  of  analysis  because  of  the  fact  that  the  method  is  exceed- 
ingly tedious  and  time-consuming,  and  also  because  such  a  form  of 
analysis  can  only  be  applied  to  film  and  dictaphone  records  which  are 
perfect  in  every  detail.  The  records  of  nine  subjects  are  shown  in 
Plates  XXI-XXIX. 

EXPLANATION    OF    TYPICAL   PLATES 

The  plates  may  be  interpreted  either  with  reference  to  the  eye-line 
or  the  voice-line.  Arrow  heads  are  inserted  for  the  first  few  lines  of 
Plate  XXI  indicating  the  direction  of  the  eye  fixations  from  the  location 
of  the  voice.  This  plate  should  be  read  by  following  the  voice-line. 
While  the  voice  was  pronouncing  the  word  "two"  the  eye  was  covering 
fixations  5  and  6,  as  shown  by  following  the  diagonal  lines  leading  from 
"two."     While  the  voice  was  pronouncing  "men"  the  eye  was  located 


66 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 
PLATE  XXI 
3.  H    t    3  S  L  7  i 


<f      /o 
upon  ^^'}Lic] 


pages      further 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  Subject  Hi 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE  67 

PLATE  XXIa 
is'  JL  *^  S  7       b        i 


cam 


cam 


how^ever,  13  obvious,  namely, 


that  the  manner  ir 


^rew     up. 

PLATE  XXI — Conlinued 


68  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

at  fixation  7.  As  the  voice  was  saying  ''were"  the  eye  was  still  located 
at  fixation  7.  While  the  voice  was  pronouncing  the  word  "seated" 
the  eye  was  fixated  at  8.  WTiile  the  voice  was  saying  "at,"  "a,"  and 
the  first  part  of  "table,"  the  eye  was  located  at  the  ninth  fixation,  but 
before  the  voice  finished  "table"  and  started  on  the  next  w^ord  the  eye 
had  moved  on  to  fixation  10  in  the  first  line  and  then  to  fixations  i,  2, 
and  3  in  the  second  line.  The  voice  was  evidently  lagging  at  this  point. 
As  the  voice  was  pronouncing  "upon"  and  the  first  part  of  "which," 
the  eye  was  at  the  fourth  fixation  of  the  second  line.  While  the  voice 
was  finishing  the  word  "which"  and  saying  "many  books  and  papers," 
the  eye  was  held  steadily  at  the  fifth  fixation  in  the  second  line.  This 
fixation  was  much  longer  than  the  average,  lasting  for  44  fiftieths  of  a 
second.  The  voice  moved  over  all  or  part  of  five  words  during  this 
fixation,  making  the  eye- voice  span  at  the  end  of  the  fixation  22  letter- 
spaces  narrower  than  it  was  at  the  beginning. 

All  of  the  plates  are  to  be  read  in  the  same  manner.  The  positions 
of  the  eye,  while  the  voice  is  pronouncing  any  word,  may  be  found  by 
following  the  diagonal  lines  leading  from  that  particular  word  to  the 
eye-fixations.  The  position  of  the  voice,  while  the  eye  is  at  any  fixa- 
tion, may  be  likewise  determined  by  following  the  diagonal  lines  leading 
from  that  particular  fixation  to  the  words  in  the  voice-line.  The  length 
of  the  eye- voice  span  may  be  found  by  counting  the  number  of  letter- 
spaces  in  the  interval  between  the  position  of  the  voice  and  the  eye. 
If  the  voice  moves  over  more  than  one  word  during  a  single  fixation 
there  will  be  a  maximum  and  a  minimum  span,  with  a  range  between 
the  spans  equal  to  the  distance  covered  by  the  voice  while  the  eye  is 
stationary.  This  maximum  and  minimum  span  is  well  illustrated  in 
the  second  line  of  Plate  XXI.  At  fixation  5  in  this  line  the  eye  remained 
fixated  while  the  voice  covered  several  words.  From  the  position  of 
the  voice  to  that  of  the  eye  at  the  beginning  of  the  fixation  there  is  a 
span  of  36  letter-spaces,  while  the  distance  between  the  voice  and  the 
eye  at  the  end  of  the  fixation  is  only  14  letter-spaces.  In  this  case 
the  maximum  span  is  36,  the  minimum  span  is  14,  and  the  range  of 
the  movement  of  the  voice  during  the  fixation  is  22  letter-spaces.  The 
average  span  at  this  position  would  be  25  letter-spaces. 

In  the  third  line  of  Plate  XXI  an  infrequent  type  of  eye-movement 
occurs  which  will  need  explanation.  Between  the  second  and  fourth 
fixations  in  this  line  the  eye  made  a  long  sweep  to  the  right,  placing 
the  third  fixation  nearly  at  the  end  of  the  line.  An  examination  of  the 
film  will  show  that  there  was  also  an  upward  movement  of  the  eye, 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE  69 

which  indicates  that  instead  of  fixation  3  lacing  a  long  look  ahead,  it 
was  really  a  regressive  movement  back  to  the  end  of  the  preceding  line. 
This  is  indicated  in  the  plate  by  dotted  lines,  showing  that  while  this 
fixation  occurred  during  the  series  for  line  3,  it  was  properly  a  fixation 
back  upon  line  2.  This  type  of  movement  occurred  at  intervals  in  the 
reading  of  many  of  the  subjects. 

A  comparison  of  the  records  in  Plates  XXI-XXIX  will  Ijring  out 
the  many  variations  in  eye-voice  relationship,  and  will  also  show  the 
points  of  general  similarity.  The  elastic  nature  of  the  eye-voice  span 
is  clearly  indicated  and  the  effect  of  position  in  the  sentence  and  hne 
can  be  observed  in  detail.  The  effect  of  the  three  difficult  words  intro- 
duced in  lines  5  and  6  is  quite  marked,  causing  an  immediate  break  in 
the  habitual  eye-voice  relation  and  reducing  the  span  to  nearly  zero. 

An  opportunity  is  afforded  here  to  check  the  validity  of  the  method 
of  computing  the  average  span  from  a  few  positions  in  the  selection,  as 
was  done  in  the  preceding  chapter.  A  comparison  shows  that  when 
the  average  span  for  every  fixation  is  used,  the  average  span  for  the 
selection  is  a  little  wider  than  when  computed  from  the  eight  or  nine 
positions  in  the  paragraph.  For  Subjects  Hi  and  Ei,  Plates  XXI  and 
XXVIII,  the  average  span  obtained  by  using  every  fixation  was  3 . 2 
letter-spaces  longer  than  when  averaged  from  the  nine  positions  in  the 
paragraph.  The  reason  for  this  difference  is  easily  explained.  The 
average  eye-voice  span  for  the  end  of  a  sentence  was  found  to  be  much 
narrower  than  for  other  points  in  the  selection.  For  the  eight  positions 
used  in  the  elementary-school  selection,  two  were  at  or  near  the  end  of 
a  sentence.  The  average  for  the  selection,  therefore,  was  influenced  by 
25  per  cent  of  the  samples  representing  eye- voice  spans  which  varied 
from  the  average  more  than  did  the  other  75  per  cent.  In  the  whole 
elementary  selection  there  were  only  three  sentences  and  consequently 
only  a  few  words  influenced  by  being  in  that  position.  However, 
there  were  forty-three  words  in  the  entire  selection,  which  very  materially 
reduced  the  influence  which  the  narrower  span,  at  the  end  of  sentences, 
would  have  on  the  general  average.  The  same  would  be  true  for  the 
high-school  selection.  Since  it  has  been  shown  that  the  relative  shorten- 
ing of  the  span  at  the  end  of  a  sentence  is  more  evident  with  good  than 
with  poor  readers,  and  since  both  Subjects  Hi  and  Ei  are  good  readers, 
the  error  in  the  averages  for  the  poor  readers  would  be  still  less  than 
for  these  two  subjects.  Whatever  small  amount  of  error  does  exist  for 
the  sampling  method,  it  would  affect  the  results  of  the  preceding  chapter 
in  only  one  respect :  it  would  slightly  enlarge  the  difference  in  the  width 


o  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IX  READING 

PLATE  XXII 


Y         /o 


The  Iwp  men  we  :'e  sejited  at  a  table  upon  M^hioh 


/evv      pages      further 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  Subject  H5 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EVE  AND  VOICE  71 

PLATE  XXIII 
S.  I  S  S'  t=      H  ?         9        'i  /o 


can 


ca 


ho\v«3V(3r,    s  obvious,  namely,  that  the  nan  nor 


Hn 

i3 


need     not 


in     the     least     resemble     Uie 


consciousness    grew     up. 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  Subject  H8 


72 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 
PLATE  XXIV 


-2.        J  /  if     t      S 


7 


^  ? 


The  two  men  U^ei'i  seated  at  z    table  upon  m  liich 


something    about 

13  7 


hy])nagogie    hallucinations    mrl 


llyjier^estUesia.       A     le\v^     ])a^(is     further    on     lie 


ix 


IH 


n 


hyperaesthetTa.         A     few      pages      further      on       he 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  Subject  Hio 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE  73 

PLATE  XXV 
•f  I  H     9         3   i  S  </    yx  7     ^(.  /3  10  iS  n  h    i7  /S 

Itwo  ip<pA  wore  sealed  it  a  table  uj>on  which 

7      9  20 


further 

Continuous  eye-v'oice  relationship,  Subject  H22 


74 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SP.\N  IN  READING 
PLATE  XXVI 


consciousness    grew     up. 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  Subject  H23 


3.    I 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE 
PLATE  XXVH 
3  i^  6"  d  ^ 


/o 


came    t®    a     sentence     w^aich     read,    "One    thing. 


ca 


senteTfce''jv^ich       r^ad,      ''One      thjjjg, 


//        /o 


12.     13 


how3ver, 


is  obvious,  n;iniely,  thit  tlie  nianier  in 


maifnW     in — 'whicfi     the      original     elenjents      of     our 


con$ciomsness  er 

'3  /y  t? 


consciousness    grew     up. 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  Subject  A3 


76  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

PLATE  XXVIII 


II  ^      S  J 


9     ^  7  //      ?     /y    10    '^     /A. 


I      Thd    Wtten    pulled 


wreath , 


:ouldn't     get   it 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  Subject  Ei 


again  J 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EVE  .\ND  VOICE  77 

PLATE  XXIX 
/  :l  J    H  S  L  7 

^vr  'atli 


The    kitteJi    pulled     M 


tli|e    veil     and 

17 


The     kif^n  pulled  at  tlrevefl  and  wreath 


wreath,   but  she  couldn't  get  it  out  aga: 

Continuous  cyc-voicc  relationship,  Subject  E5 


78 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


of  span  which  was  shown  to  exist  between  the  good  and  the  poor  readers. 
It  would  have  no  influence  on  the  other  results  since  they  are  all  in  the 
nature  of  relative  comparisons  and  whatever  difference  exists  would 
exist  for  the  whole  group. 

ELASTIC    NATURE    OF    THE    EYE-VOICE    SPAN 

One  of  the  characteristic  features  of  the  eye- voice  span  is  its  varia- 
tion in  width  from  word  to  word  through  the  selection.  The  span  is 
sometimes  very  wide  and  sometirnes  narrow,  apparently  expanding  and 

TABLE  XIII 
Elasticity  of  Eye-Voice  Span — Subject  Hi 


Line  and  Fixation 
Number 


Maximum  Eye- 
Voice  Span 


Minimum  Eye- 
V'oice  Span 


Range  of  Span 


Length  of  Fixation 


II-I 
II-2 

n-3 

II-4 

n-5 

II-6 
III-i 

III-2 

III-3 
III-4 

III-5 
III-6 

in-7 

III-8 
III-9 

IV-i 
IV- 2 
IV-3 
IV-4 
IV-5 
IV-6 
IV-7 

XI- 1 

XI-2 

XI-3 
XI-4 

xi-^ 

XT-6 
XI-7 


15 
24 
32 
36 
18 


16 
7 
24 
14 
17 
27 
32 
13 

30 
24 
21 
24 
24 
26 


44 
41 
39 
45 
46 

5 
36 


17 
14 
23 
25 
13 
10 

19 
14 
5 
22 
II 
15 
19 


29 


10 

23 
23 


34 
31 
37 
41 
37 
2 

29 


13 

9 

14 


14 

9 

44 

13 


13 
14 
15 
16 

14 
22 
20 
32 
17 


9 

7 

14 

10 


contracting  according  to  the  demands  made  by  the  material  read. 
Table  XIII  shows  this  elastic  naiure  of  the  span  for  four  lines  of  the 
reading  of  Subject  Hi.  This  table  gives  the  maximum  and  the  mini- 
mum eye-voice  span,  the  range,  and  the  duration  of  the  pause  for  each 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EVK  AND  \OICE  79 

fixation  in  lines  2,  3,  4,  and  11.  In  the  second  line  the  maximum  span 
is  comparatively  small,  then  large  and  finally  small  again.  In  the 
fourth  line  the  maximum  span  is  wide  for  every  fixation  but  the  minimum 
span  shows  considerable  variation.  In  line  11  there  is  an  exceptionally 
wide  maximum  span  for  every  fixation  except  the  sixth.  The  reason  for 
this  variation  is  that  fixation  6  makes  a  long  regressive  movement  which 
cuts  the  span  nearly  to  zero.  The  eye-voice  span  of  this  subject  shows 
an  elasticity  both  within  the  line  and  from  line  to  line.  The  relation 
of  the  eye  and  voice  is  apparently  adjusted  according  to  the 
demands  made  upon  the  reader  by  the  material.  As  noted  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  the  beginning  and  end  of  a  sentence 
demand  a  different  type  of  eye-voice  span.  There  are  without  doubt 
other  factors  which  influence  the  width  of  the  span,  among  which  difficult 
words  and  difficult  meaning  would  have  a  place.  It  has  already  been 
shown  that  the  eye-voice  span  of  the  immature  reader  is  narrow,  while 
pupils  with  more  mature  reading  habits  have  a  wider  span.  An  exami- 
nation of  Plates  XXI,  XXII,  XXIV,  and  XXV  shows  very  clearly 
that  when  the  difficult  words  in  lines  5  and  6  are  encountered  the  sub- 
jects who  are  mature  readers  return  at  once  to  a  type  of  reading  which 
can  be  described  as  less  advanced  and  keep  their  eye  and  voice  very 
close  together.  The  elastic  nature  of  the  eye-voice  span  is  very  evident 
when  such  difficult  words  are  encountered.  A  more  detailed  anaylsis 
of  the  reaction  to  difficult  words  will  be  given  in  the  latter  part  of  this 
chapter. 

RELATION    OF    EYE-VOICE    SPAN    TO    LENGTH    OF   FIXATIONS 

An  examination  of  the  records  of  the  subjects  used  in  this  investi- 
gation will,  show  that  while  the  median  duration  of  a  fixation  pause 
varies  from  9  to  13  fiftieths  of  a  second,  there  frequently  occur  fixations 
which  are  very  much  longer.  A  tabulation  of  the  fixation  pauses  of 
nineteen  high-school  subjects  shows  an  average  for  each  subject  of 
14  fixations  which  are  more  than  20  fiftieths  of  a  second  in  length. 
The  length  of  these  long  fixations  varies  from  20  to  93  fiftieths  of  a 
second.  This  unusual  behavior  on  the  part  of  the  eye  calls  for  an 
explanation.  It  was  thought  that  an  analysis  of  the  continuous  rela- 
tionship of  the  eye  and  voice  might  help  to  explain  the  long  fixations 
by  showing  what  the  voice  was  doing  during  those  comparatively  long 
intervals.  The  cause  of  these  long  fixations  may  be  due  to  a  number 
of  factors.  One  possible  hypothesis  is  that  a  long  fixation  occurs  when 
the  eye  reaches  too  great  a  distance  ahead  of  the  voice,  and   that  the 


8o 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


eye  remains  fixated  until  the  voice  catches  up  to  a  convenient  position, 
when  the  eye  moves  forward  again.  In  terms  of  this  hypothesis  a 
long  fixation  would  mean  a  period  during  which  the  voice  was  trying  to 
catch  up  with  the  eye. 

In  order  to  test  this  hypothesis  a  study  was  made  of  the  ten  longest 
and  ten  shortest  fixations  for  each  of  ten  subjects.  The  average  maxi- 
mum and  minimum  spans  and  the  range  were  tabulated  for  each  sub- 
ject. If  the  hypothesis  were  true,  the  maximimi  span  and  the  range 
should  be  greater  for  the  long  fixations  than  for  the  short  ones.  Such 
a  condition  would  be  evidence  that,  in  case  of  the  long  fixations,  the 
eye  had  been  leading  by  too  wide  a  span  and  that  a  long  fixation  was 
provided  for  the  voice  to  catch  up.  The  result  of  the  comparison  of 
the  fixations  of  the  ten  subjects  is  given  in  Table  XIV.     The  table 


TABLE  XIV 
Relation  of  Eye- Voice  Span  to  Length  of  Fixations 


Ten  Longest  Fixations 

Ten  Shortest  Fixations 

Subject 

Maximum 
Span 

Minimum 

Span 

Range 

Maximum 
Span 

Minimum 
Span 

Range 

Ei 

E5 

ES 

Hi 

H5 

H8 

Hio 

H22 

H23 

A3 

18.6 
14.9 
14. 1 
27.7 
18.9 

31-4 
22.8 
22.5 
20.8 
20.4 

II. 9 
8.1 

9-3 
16.0 
10.7 
21.6 
II. 8 
139 
II-3 
II-5 

6.7 
6.8 
4.8 

II. 7 
8.2 
9.8 

II. 0 
8.6 
9-5 
8.9 

15-3 
16.7 
13-8 
29.6 
17.6 

25-9 
23.0 
15-0 
18.6 
20.0  • 

13-4 
135 
II. 6 

24-3 
I5-0 
22.0 
19.6 
12.  2 

15-2 

17.0 

I 

3 

2 

5 
2 

3 
3 

2 

3 
3 

9 

2 

3 
6  ■ 

9 
4 
8 

4 
0 

Average.  .  . 

21.  2 

12.6 

8.6 

19.6 

16.4 

3-2 

should  be  read  as  follows:  The  record  of  Subject  Ei  shows,  for  the 
ten  longest  fixations,  an  average  maximum  span  of  18.6  letter-spaces 
an  average  minimum  span  of  1 1 . 9  letter-spaces,  and  a  range  of  6 . 7 
spaces;  and  for  the  ten  shortest  fixations,  a  maximum  span  of  15 . 3  letter- 
spaces,  a  minimum  span  of  13 .4  spaces  and  a  range  of  i .  9  spaces. 

The  averages  for  all  of  the  ten  subjects  do  not  fully  justify  the 
hypothesis.  The  maximum  span  for  the  long  fixations  is  greater  than 
that  for  the  short  fixations,  but  only  by  a  small  amount.  It  is  not  a 
satisfactory  explanation  to  say  that  an  average  span  of  21.2  letter- 
spaces  was  so  great  as  to  cause  a  very  long  fixation,  while  a  span  of  19 .6 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE  8i 

letter-spaces  was  not  found  inconvenient  and  was  accompanied  b}-  the 
shortest  fixations.  The  difference  is  not  great  enough  to  justify 
the  hypothesis,  and  the  conclusion  must  be  drawn  that  width  of  eye- 
voice  span  is  at  least  not  a  large  factor  in  the  cause  of  long  fixations. 

The  average  range,  for  all  subjects,  for  the  long  fixations  is  8.6 
letter-spaces,  while  for  the  short  fixations  it  is  only  3.2  letter-spaces. 
This  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  explanation  of  the  cause  of  the  long 
fixations,  but  it  merely  shows  that  the  voice  is  moving  over  a  greater 
range  during  the  long  pauses. 

The  data  presented  in  Table  XIV  cannot  be  regarded  as  sufficient 
evidence  to  estabhsh  a  causal  relationship  between  a  long  eye-voice 
span  and  a  long  fixation  pause.  When  the  span  becomes  too  long  for 
convenience  the  eye  seems  to  react  by  a  series  of  short  fixations  covering 
small  intervals  as  often  as  by  a  single  long  fixation.  The  eye  is  the 
controlling  factor  rather  than  the  voice,  and  other  factors  of  perception 
must  operate  to  lengthen  the  eye  pauses. 

A  cue  to  a  possible  cause  of  the  long  fixations  may  be  found  from 
another  source  than  the  eye- voice  span.  The  eye-movements  of  all 
high-school  subjects  were  radically  modified  when  the  three  difficult 
words  in  lines  5  and  6  were  reached.  These  words  were  new  to  all  of 
the  high-school  subjects.  Two  characteristic  differences  are  evident  in 
the  behavior  of  the  eye  toward  these  words.  The  number  of  fixations 
is  greater  and  the  percentage  of  long  fixations  is  larger  when  the  difficult 
words  are  encountered. 

Plate  XXX  shows  a  comparison  of  the  eye-movements  of  six  high- 
school  subjects  in  reading  these  three  words.  The  column  of  numbers 
at  the  right  of  the  plate  gives  the  median  length  of  all  fixations.  The 
first  line  of  the  plate  gives  the  record  of  Subject  Hi.  The  median 
length  of  the  fixations  of  this  subject  for  the  whole  selection  was  12 
fiftieths  of  a  second.  In  reading  these  words  13  of  the  17  fixations  are 
longer  than  the  median.  Of  these  13  fixations,  9  are  more  than  twice 
as  long  as  the  median  for  the  selection.  Subject  H5,  in  the  next  line, 
makes  23  fixations  on  the  three  words,  18  of  which  are  longer  than 
the  median.  Subject  Hio,  in  the  fourth  line,  makes  only  9  fixations  of 
which  6  are  greater  than  the  median.  Two  of  these  6  are  very  long, 
however,  being  67  and  72  fiftieths  of  a  second. 

The  results  shown  by  Plate  XXX  make  it  clear  that  difficult  words 
are  one  cause  of  long  fixations.  They  suggest  that  an  explanation  of 
the  occurrence  of  long  fixations  may  be  found  in  the  content  of  the 
reading  selection.     In  order  to  test  this  possibility,  a  study  was  made  of 


82 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 
PLATE  XXX 


"^       S      i-'     U  1  /I      9      9     /o  1^- 

Hi     hypna^^c^^ic    halt iKjiriat ions 

n        It    3.S    XL  ^1        'i     3X    ^^     i.     <f 


Hs     lypiia^o.^io  hallijc  Laitions 


L   H      7    S- 


9       ^ 


/o 


H8    hyi:rag 


Df'ic  hallu^ina  :ions 


/6  ;i7    /?  /6 


;V     ^7 


A^ 


3      H  s  L  "? 

Hio   hy])na:?ogic   ha|ll"aciJnations 


//       9   ^7 


Ji 


JX. 


H22  piyp^i^got^|.3  hallijioinatiJons 

}9. 


II       n  '"^        /v 


Li      7  9 


10        // 


I2~ 


H23   hyoniiro^Tic   hallacinations 


MV'I 


/  /o      z  ^    i,    H 

hy  Dor!iesthe!jla 

H_/  3  xS-     i,    7  S         "7 

t:y  pernostne  3ia 

i'iisl  f  32.   3i  U  3S-       i 
/  X.        3 

hyper  les  :h 6  3 ia 

HS~     -^v      xi" 


2.         >         3  ^ 

hy])eraest]iesia 

7Z      7      ^H         3-1 
X  ij  /  S  3  6    7 

"ly  ^(jraesthosia 


iyporai555th 


ejjia 


/tf  /9      7  .'i 


<7         // 


//A/ '7  9        f  /V      '/    /7 


Effect  of  new  and  difficult  words  upon  eye-movements.     Six  high-school  subjects 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE  83 

all  fixations  which  were  longer  than  20  fiftieths  of  a  second  in  the  records 
of  nineteen  subjects.  The  readings  of  these  nineteen  subjects  showed  a 
total  of  259  fixations  which  were  over '20  fiftieths  of  a  second  in  length. 
The  selection  which  these  subjects  read  contained  ninety  words.  If  the 
long  fixations  simply  occurred  at  random  there  should  be  an  average  of 
2 .9  for  each  word  in  the  paragraph.  The  number  and  duration  of  these 
long  fixations,  for  each  word  in  the  selection,  are  given  in  Plate  XXXI. 
This  plate  shows  that  three  of  the  pauses  occurred  on  the  first  word, 
"the,"  and  that  their  duration  was  38,  22,  and  30  fiftieths  of  a  second. 
Only  one  long  fixation  occurred  on  the  word  "two,"  three  fell  on  the 
word  "men,"  two  on  "were,"  etc.  The  point  of  interest  in  the  plate  is 
that  the  long  fixations  are  not  distributed  in  a  random  fashion  with 
2. 9  faUing  on  each  word,  but  that  they  occur  much  more  frequently 
on  certain  words  than  on  others.  The  greatest  number  of  long  fixations 
fall  upon  the  words  "hyperaesthesia,"  "hypnagogic,"  and  "hallucina- 
tions," these  words  receiving  31,  22,  and  16  fixations  respectively. 
Since  these  are  the  most  difficult  words  in  the  paragraph,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  difficulty  is  one  factor  causing  long  fixation  pauses.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  thirteen  words  each  receive  as  many  as  six  or  more 
of  these  long  fixations.     These  words  are  underlined  in  the  plate. 

If  the  same  cause  operates  to  produce  long  fixations  on  all  of  the 
words,  there  must  be  some  point  of  difficulty  connected  with  the  words 
receiving  a  larger  number  of  such  pauses.  The  word  "consciousness" 
in  the  last  fine  and  the  word  "grew"  following  it  appear  to  present 
difiiculties.  This  is  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  "consciousness"  is 
not  a  common  word  to  high-school  pupils,  and  when  used  with  "grew" 
it  presents  an  idea  which  is  difficult  and  unfamiliar.  The  phrase 
"objects  need  not"  in  the  third  from  the  last  line  presents  familiar 
words  in  an  unfamiliar  combination.  The  whole  quoted  sentence  con- 
tains a  difficult  thought,  and  by  the  time  this  phrase  is  reached  the 
difficulties  come  to  a  focus.  The  fact  that  "objects"  has  the  same  form 
both  as  a  noun  and  as  a  verb  may  add  to  the  confusion.  No  explana- 
tion is  offered  as  to  why  "namely"  in  the  eighth  line  should  receive  six 
long  fixations.  In  line  6  the  word  "further"  is  not  as  common  with 
high-school  pupils  as  the  form  "farther"  which  might  account  for  the 
difficulty.  In  line  4  the  words  "began"  and  "read"  both  present  tense 
difl&culties.  The  word  "began"  is  often  confused  with  "begun."  The 
word  "read"  is  spelled  alike  for  both  present  and  past  tense  but  is  pro- 
nounced differently  and  often  causes  trouble  in  reading.  No  explana- 
tion is  offered  for  the  word  "subject." 


84  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

PLATE  XXXI 

The  Uvo  men  were  seated  at  a  table  upon  ^v^hich 

JB         -2.0  XI  jLo  xi  3.1        :l3  ^3 

X2.  u-l  Z.3  ^^  -t7         XJS  s_o 


X2. 

30 


XI 
XI 


■^3 
a.  o 


xa. 


many    books    and    papers    were    scattered. 

XX 


The 

A./ 

a.1 


olde 

31 
30 

32, 


r  man  turned  to  a  pa^e  m   a   lar^e  book 

:m  2.1  Ji      jiJL  ^o 

:lI  XX  30  ^3 


z3 


xx 
xs 


and 

2.  I 


besan  to  read.      The    subject   of   the   chapter  \v^as 


2.0 

xo 


3(, 


-2V 
XI 

xs 
30 


xo 

X.2, 


3>X 

5-^ 


XX 

2.  X 


JIX 


XI 

XO 


XX- 


something   about 


hTDua^o^ic 

;^<5  'Z9-  31  '2.J, 
ZH-H3 


2.3 


haHucinations 

2.}-  2H-  3H'  ^^ 
xi~3H-  2.s~S3 


and 


hvperaesthesia. 

Jij-3^-22--X.5~X.1-  XH 
33-Xl-x3-3tj-X(,~X^ 
nU-3G-2.3-2.l-3S-Xi 

iil-32-2.ii-2.X~Xl-ij3 
^^,jll~2tj~^-^-2.S~3X 

3  7 


A 

X  X 


fe^v 

x'& 

XX. 
XI 

So 
sx. 


pages 

xo 


further 

2H 
XX 
X  o 
X  o 
xo 
xa. 


Location  of  long  fixation  pauses,  19  subjects 


on 


he 


CONTINUOUS  RELATIONSHIP  OF  EYE  AND  VOICE 
PLATE  XXXIa 


came 

to 

a 

sentence 

w^hich 

read, 

"One 

^H 

x/ 

30 

:io 

' 

:l3 
a.9 

tiling. 


ho^v^ever,  is  obvious,  namely,  that  the  manner  in 

■  So  ^  V  . 

Z2. 


w^hich     ^ve     become     acquainted      Av^th     complex 


JLO 


<2  o 

X7 


objects 

2C-H3 


need 

3H~2.L 
XS-3^ 

XI 


not 

XC> 
X7 

xo 

XI 
X3 
3X 


m 

XX 


the 

2.  q 


least 

-2/ 

XX 


resemble 

a  a. 
X2 
XI 


the 

3.0 


manner 


m 


Avhich 

x:l 


the 


origin 

al 

elements 

of 

our 

iV 

xo 

JS 

-Z^ 

30 

XL 

^7 

XI 

X  0 

consciousness  ^re^v  up. 


XJ-'  xii-  :l3 

^q  -   Ljo-  X  pi 
xo  -  -2-^ 


93 
x9 

XI 

30 
xi> 


X7 


PLATE  XXXl—Contmiied 


86  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

The  results  of  this  form  of  tabulation  indicate  that  difficulty  of 
material  must  have  some  relation  to  the  length  of  fixations.  No  other 
explanation  is  apparent  which  could  account  for  the  fact  that  only 
six  long  fixations  fall  on  the  ninth  line  while  thirty-one  fall  on  the  tenth. 

A  similar  form  of  study  was  applied  to  the  elementary  pupils. 
Their  records  showed  that  long  fixations  were  distributed  over  all  the 
words  of  the  selection.  Apparently  even  simple  words  present  difficulties 
to  a  child  in  the  elementary  school. 

The  interpretation  of  the  foregoing  data  must  be  related  to  the 
development  of  reading  habits.  The  records  of  the  elementary  ^subjects, 
whose  reading  habits  are  still  immature,  show  that  long  fixations  are 
frecjuent  and  occur  all  through  the  selection.  Evidently  long  fixations 
are  characteristic  of  immature  types  of  reading.  The  high-school  and 
adult  subjects  represent  more  mature  readers.  In  general  they  have 
outgrown  the  long  fixation  habits.  However,  when  words  of  special 
difficulty  or  difficult  phrases  are  encountered,  they  return  immediately 
to  the  primitive  type  of  habits  characteristic  of  the  immature  reader. 
Earlier  in  this  chapter  the  same  kind  of  a  reversion  to  primitive  reading 
habits  was  observed  in  the  narrowing  of  the  eye-voice  span  when  difficult 
words  were  encountered. 

The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  regarding  the  long  fixations  is  that 
width  of  eye-voice  span  is  not  a  determining  factor.  The  return  to 
immature  reading  habits  caused  by  encountering  difficulties  in  the 
reading  material  is  apparently  a  more  adequate  explanation. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  AND  THE  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING 
MATERIAL    AND   METHOD    USED 

The  use  of  a  photographic  method  gives  the  most  accurate  measure 
of  the  eye-voice  span.  The  general  use  of  this  method  is  Umited,  how- 
ever, by  the  very  elaborate  apparatus  which  is  involved.  It  would  be 
desirable  to  have  a  device  which  would  give  objective  information 
regarding  the  eye-voice  span  without  use  of  apparatus.  Quantz,  in 
his  study  cited  in  the  introductory  chapter,  called  attention  to  a  fact 
which  is  of  special  significance.  He  suggested  that  certain  words  which 
are  spelled  alike  but  pronounced  differently  might  be  used  to  determine 
eye,  voice,  and  meaning  relationships.  This  chapter  reports  the  testing 
of  such  a  device  by  photographing  the  eye-movements  which  occur 
when  such  words  are  encountered  in  the  reading. 

A  paragraph  of  twelve  lines  was  constructed,  which  contained  six 
words  which  are  spelled  alike  but  pronounced  differently.  The  sub- 
jects were  not  informed  that  the  paragraph  was  unusual  in  any  respect, 
but  were  instructed  to  read  it  carefully  in  order  to  get  the  meaning. 
The  subjects  read  orally  and  were  not  allowed  to  glance  over  the  selec- 
tion before  beginning  to  read.     The  test  passage  used  was  as  follows: 

The  boys'  arrows  were  nearly  gone  so  they  sat 
down  on  the  grass  and  stopped  hunting.   Over 
at  the  edge  of  the  woods  they  saw  Henry 
making  a  bow  to  a  little  girl  who  was  coming 
down  the  road.   She  had  tears  in  her  dress 
and  also  tears  in  her  eyes.   She  gave  Henry  a 
note  which  he  brought  over  to  the  group  of 
young  hunters.   Read  to  the  boys  it  caused 
great  excitement.   After  a  minute  but  rapid 
examination  of  their  weapons  they  ran  down 
the  valley.   Does  were  standing  at  the  edge 
of  the  lake  making  an  excellent  target. 

87 


88  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

The  test  words  in  the  paragraph  are  "bow"  in  line  4,  "tears"  in  line  5, 
"tears"  in  line  6,  "read"  in  Hne  8,  "minute"  in  line  9,  and  "does"  in 
line  II.  The  paragraph  is  so  constructed  that  the  meaning  of  these 
words  is  not  evident  until  the  next  few  words  in  the  sentence  are  read. 
For  example,  in  line  5,  the  word  "tears"  is  ambiguous  until  the  word 
"dress"  is  reached.  The  hypothesis  in  regard  to  the  eye-voice  span  is 
that  no  error  will  be  made  in  the  reading  if  the  span  is  wide  enough  to 
enable  the  reader  to  take  in  the  word  "dress"  before  pronouncing  the 
word  "tears."  If  the  span  is  not  wide  enough  to  do  this,  there  is  a 
strong  probability  of  error.  By  varying  the  distance  between  the  test 
words  and  the  part  of  the  sentence  which  qualifies  it,  a  rough  measure 
of  the  width  of  the  eye-voice  span  can  be  secured.  If  this  hypothesis 
is  correct,  subjects  having  a  wide  eye-voice  span  should  make  fewer 
errors  than  those  whose  span  is  narrower. 

The  use  of  such  a  paragraph  will  also  help  to  answer  the  question 
as  to  where  the  recognition  of  meaning  occurs  in  the  reading  process. 
Does  the  recognition  of  meaning  accompany  the  eye  or  the  voice,  or  is 
it  intermediate?  A  similar  question  could  be  raised  in  regard  to  silent 
reading. 

ORAL   READING    OF    TEST   PASSAGE 

Photographs  were  made  of  the  eye-movements  of  a  number  of  sub- 
jects while  reading  this  selection.  A  comparison  of  the  behavior  of  the 
eye,  when  encountering  one  of  the  test  words,  with  the  dictaphone  voice 
record  will  show  how  closely  the  two  are  related.  Plates  XXXII- 
XXXIV  give  the  records  of  the  oral  reading  of  this  selection  by  three 
subjects. 

Plate  XXXII  gives  the  record  of  Subject  H13,  a  good  reader  from 
the  junior  class.  In  the  reading  of  the  first  line  of  the  selection,  a  long 
regressive  movement  occurred  at  the  sixth  fixation,  carrying  the  eye 
back  over  the  word  "nearly."  The  dictaphone  record  showed  that  he 
had  trouble  with  this  word,  hesitating  before  pronouncing  it  and  repeat- 
ing the  first  syllable  as  follows,  "nea  —  nearly."  The  fact  that  the 
fifth  fixation,  the  one  just  before  the  regressive  movement,  fell  on  the 
word  "gone"  would  indicate  that  the  eye  had  passed  the  word  "nearly" 
but  was  recalled  when  the  voice  reached  it.  Evidently  the  eye  did  not 
fully  recognize  the  meaning  of  the  word  when  it  fixated  on  it  the  first 
time,  and  the  regressive  movement  occurred  to  make  sure  of  the  meaning. 

The  next  difficulty  which  is  evident  in  the  record  of  this  subject  is 
found  in  the  fifth  line  on  the  word  "tears."     This  was  one  of  the  test 


EYE-VOICE  SFAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  :MEAXING  89 

PLATE  XXXII 
/  Z.  3         c  H  i    7  "^        ^ 


Th<i  boys' 


X    / 


arrows  w^re 

IX  S  7    /2. 

3  V 


down 


noarly  gojKs   po    phey   sat 
on  the  grass  and   stopped  htinting. 


i     7 


;iie  edi( 


at  tte   ed^e  of   th^  woods 


Qtjqt 


they 


making  a  t 


-2.  J 

ow  to 


S      7  i.      S 


saw  Henry 

a  liktle  tirh.  whj)  jvas   doming 
10  //     /^       /^  //        f 

down  [the  road.      She  had   t jafs   in  rjer  dress 

s 
7    ? 

y|ea|. 
//    ? 

over  tlo   the  grtup   of 


A    1^3    s- 


7     'S       9  /o 


and  al 30 


tears 


3    9  i  13.     7 


in  mer  e: 


gave 


Henry  a 


It         3         / 
note|wiiioh 


7  II      i        i  JO  '-^ 

S-  i  7 


he  brought 


f    6  s 

J        I  9      s  'O 


7  r 

f  II  1^  7  in  S/j 


yoimt  himtera.      Read  jto   thp  boya   i^tMcaused 

/^       /t  *-■>■     fi-    ?  "    //  JO   /i  'I     f  i  // 

great  ex(jitera<mt.      After  a  mi  nut  0  bufc   rapid 

t  i-S-  13  if         ^       XO        \ 

f      7      'o    (.  1/  IX       '^     13    ^ 

of  tiei^r  i?ekponp  they  ran  down 

12.       ^      10     n  7  xi      ly     IX     S 

_    3      IX  7     9  "i     li    (,  "  -i"       lO  /f 

the  lalloy.      Do5.3  hfQ^®   ptanding  by   the   edge 


exaiai  tuition 


X  iS  ^ 


/v  ?     A^4  /v  '^     II  L  n  1      10 
3  ^ 


of  The  lako  makini^  an  excellent 


target. 


Oral  reading  of  test  passage  by  Subject  Hi 3 


90 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


'       i 


PLATE  XXXIII 


The  bloys'    arrows  w<5re  nearly  gone   so  tiey  sat 


I  Z  3 


■^'7 


Ove 


\ 


down  on  the  grass  and  stpjiped  hunptng 

a.  I  3  V      i-  i,  7 

€Jt  the  edge  of  phe  woods  they  saw  Henry 

I  J.  3      "1   I        s-  ?  i  9 

raalcir>g  a  pow  to  a  [Little  girl  who  was  coming 


io^ra    the  road.      She 


poac 


'3 


and 


JO  i 


ilso  tears  i 


hid  teirs   In  her    Iress 

(,  7  S  9  ,o 

n  herl  eyes  J     3h4  gavo  Heni'y  a 


i     /     3 


S  7 


moie  [which  ne  "brought  p76r  to  fche  giloup  of 

xo  o  i.^  II  IH 

ti'i    I    ^f      ^  '0      II  i~    ,i.,i.    1^23  7     13     XH  i  II,  a'n  f  ^t    'i 

U>uag|  hJnterJ.    lilM  HIH®  ^^H  \\'  Ff^P®* 


7H2,  /.      IX     3   S 


13  H 


jfT      IS  ^    /o        lts> 

kriap  excitement.     Ifter  a  miJiute  [bup  ripid 


A  3    I 


H  L     ? 


93amin^tion  of  tOieir  weapons   th4y  ran  down 

/    -«-  '^  l/^j      jri'%     7  II  ,x  If       IS- 

tjhe  valley,     mji^   rnf ®  standing  \>'j  tlie  edge 


A      /  3  S 

ofl  the  lake 


excellent  tai 


making  mi  excellent   target, 

Oral  reading  of  test  passage  by  Subject  Ai 


EYE- VOICE  SPAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING 
PLATE  XXXIV 


91 


/   i  J 


S 


Th*  t)Oy$'  arrows 


were  nearly  gona  so 


7       S      9 

thijy    sat 
I'x.       V     >     10 
7      9  /a 


I  b(|y^' 

I     3' 

iowA  tn  the  glrass  and  sjtolpped  hjinljing.      Over 

S.      I  3        H-  Si  7  i  9 

at  tie  ^dge  of  the  loods  tlhey  saw  Henry 


3.K       i   /o         10 

.3.       /  3 


^  L         S   ? 


17  If  '/ 

i  9  10        'I 

was  cpming 

9  I?  s         <!> 

/,  7/0         i  J   //   JX 


njaking  a  bow  jbi  a  little  gkrl  who 

X3     i  /y  XX  It      "1  1  9  ' 

XI  3  S  H  U  7     /o 

divjn  the  rjoad.      ahi  had  teaijs   in  hir  dnefes 

,7    '^  l<)  /I     13  ^o  12       /y  17  i    /^ 

X         I       3         i^  y       ^  7  g  ?       /O 

and  afLso   t^ara   in  h^jr   3yes.      She  gaye  H^nry  a 

7  f        If  '^  X/       3X  /^  Jo  /y        l<f 

X      /       3        S       '^  t,  7  S  9 

note  wiick  he  drought  ovor  to  the  grouji  o 

IS     i      /o        $      '9  "i  '^  -*' 

X      I     ^    3  7  y  /6  i    L   Ji       <f  ,jr,3       ic  u  /y  /? 

youAg  kuktfers.      Relsta  ltd  jhb  boi 


,u,        y      S      9 

3.   I  1/3 


!5     it 
;,  'ly    '<f    h    i    iH       is'i  i        13  -^v 

S  y     (,  i  II     9      13.  10 


paused 


grktt  eioktement.      Afper  a   nijiite  bJt  rapid 

;      .  X  ^    3     S  6,  7 

examknation  of  tllieir  weapbns   they  ran  dpwn 


•2-V  13       1/        7 


/S  '^         'I 


3.  H  I     3,     6  >i 


the  va 


f^H• 


4i"9  9    II      I'i  '*> 

SL  I  3  M 


Doe|s   w^re 

IS  ' 


tl2. 


7  /iy       9  IS-  "    IL  n 

p-pandipg  by  tpie  edge 

I1\i  13    IS-  C)     XI 

i  s  7    i  9 


of  the  lake  ma.cing  an  excolLL^nlj  target 

ic  i  IX         X  I.  xfxx 

Oral  reading  of  test  passage  by  Subject  A3 


92  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

words  and  it  caused  the  reader  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  The  eye  passed 
and  returned  to  the  word  twice  before  the  correct  meaning  was  recog- 
nized. The  dictaphone  record  read  as  follows:  "She  had  -  ah  -  tear 
(error)  —  tears  (correct)  in  her  dress."  The  difificulty  experienced  is 
clearly  reflected  in  the  eye-movements.  In  line  6  the  reader  approached 
"tears"  very  cautiously  and  was  successful  in  avoiding  an  error. 

In  the  eighth  line  the  word  "read"  caused  a  period  of  confusion  for 
the  eye.  Following  the  eye-fixations  in  serial  order,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  difificulty  did  not  appear  until  after  the  fifth  fixation  just 
following  the  word  "it."  The  dictaphone  shows  that  the  voice  pro- 
ceeded to  the  word  "it"  before  being     fully  aware  of  its  error.  The 

record  was  as  follows:    "Read  (error)  to read  (error)  to  the  boys 

read  (correct)  to  the  boys  it  — ." 

In  the  ninth  line  the  word  "minute"  was  mispronounced  and  left 
uncorrected.  The  voice  repeated  the  phrase  "but  rapid"  twice.  The 
accompanying  eye-movement  may  be  seen  in  the  third  and  fourth 
fixations  of  the  next  line.  These  fixations,  as  indicated  by  the  dotted 
line,  were  regressive  movements  to  the  last  two  words  of  the  ninth  line. 

In  the  eleventh  line  the  voice  made  a  very  long  hesitation  before 
pronouncing  "does,"  but  succeeded  in  pronouncing  it  without  error. 
The  film  record  shows  that  the  eye  passed  back  and  forth  over  the 
word  several  times  before  the  meaning  became  clear.  The  subject  had 
evidently  become  cautious  and  did  not  attempt  to  pronounce  the  word 
until  the  meaning  was  recognized. 

Plate  XXXIII  gives  the  record  of  Subject  Ai,  a  college  student 
ranked  as  a  poor  reader.  A  correlation  between  eye  and  voice  difificulties 
appears  here  as  in  the  case  of  Subject  H13.  The  word  "bow"  in  line  4 
was  mispronounced  but  was  immediately  corrected.  The  regressive 
movement  from  the  fifth  to  the  sixth  fixation  shows  the  location  of  the 
eye  at  the  time  of  the  readjustment. 

The  word  "tears"  in  line  5  was  mispronounced  and  passed  without 
correction.  The  voice  also  repeated  the  word  "had"  just  preceding 
"tears." 

The  voice  had  a  very  difificult  time  with  the  word  "read"  in  the 
eighth  line,  repeating  the  phrase  three  times  before  reading  it  correctly. 

The  reading  was  as  follows:  " read  (error)  to read  (error) 

to  the  boys  it  caused read  (correct)  to  the  boys ." 

The  difi&culty  in  eye-movements  was  fully  as  great,  the  eye  making 
26  fixations  on  the  line.  The  confusion  in  eye-movements  in  the  next 
line  shows  that  the  eye  had  made  at  least  10  fixations  there  before  the 


EYE-VOICE  SPAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING 


93 


reading  was  corrected.  Fixations  8,  g,  and  lo  in  line  9  were  regressive 
movements  back  to  the  end  of  line  8. 

The  reaction  to  the  word  "does"  in  line  11  was  a  very  long  hesita- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  voice,  the  word  finally  being  pronounced  without 
error.  The  fixations  show  that  the  eye  was  very  busy  during  the 
pause  and  that  it  made  a  minute  survey  of  both  "does"  and  "were." 

Plate  XXXIV,  showing  the  record  of  Subject  A3,  brings  out  the 
same  kind  of  correlation  between  voice  and  eye  difficulty.  This  subject 
made  errors  in  pronouncing  "bow"  in  line  4,  "tears"  in  Une  5,  "read" 
in  line  8,  "minute"  in  line  9  and  "does"  in  line  11.  More  or  less  con- 
fusion in  eye-movements  can  be  observed  in  all  of  these  positions  on 
the  plate. 

The  records  of  these  subjects  make  it  very  evident  that  certain 
characteristic  confusions  in  eye-fixations  accompany  points  of  difficulty 
in  oral  reading.  A  comparison  of  the  percentage  of  errors  made  in  the 
reading  of  this  selection  with  the  eye-voice  span  as  determined  by  the 
other  part  of  this  study  would  show  whether  any  relation  exists  between 
width  of  eye-voice  span  and  these  same  oral-reading  difficulties. 

TABLE  XV 
Errors  in  Word  Test  Paragraph — Oral  Reading 


Subject 

Number  Test 
Words  in 
Passage 

Number  Correct 

Number  Errors 
Corrected 

Number  Errors 
Not  Corrected 

Average  Eye- 
Voice  Span 

H4 

5 
6 
6 
5 
5 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 

3 

2 
I 
0 

3 

2 

4 
3 
4 

2 

4 
4 

I 
I 

0 
3 
4 

I 
I 

3 
0 

I 
0 
2 
I 
2 
2 
I 
2 

2 

I 
I 

4 

I 
I 
2 
2 
2 
2 
I 
0 
2 
4 
3 

10. 0 

Hs 

12.0 

H6 

Hii 

12.4 
9.6 

H12 

13-7 

H13 

13.8 

H14 

Hi=; 

17.6 
12.3 

H16 

8-5 

H18 

II-5 

H19 

H20 

12.8 
23.0 

Ai 

A2 

12.  2 
9-3 

A3 

13-6 

Table  XV  gives  the  data  for  the  reading  of  a  selection  containing 
this  kind  of  test  words  by  15  subjects.  The  table  shows  the  number 
of  test  words  in  the  passage,  the  numbers  pronounced  correctly  the  first 
time,  the  number  of  errors  which  were  corrected,  the  number  of  errors 


94 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  E\^-VOICE  SP-\X  IX  READING 


not  corrected,  and  the  average  eye- voice  span.     Table  XVI  is  made  up 
from  Table  X\',  and  shows  the  relation  of  errors  in  the  test  paragraph 

TABLE  XVI 

Relation   of   Errors   ix   Word  Test  Paragraph  to  Eye- 
Voice   Span 


Xumber  of  Subjects 


Test  Score — Per  cent  of 

Words  Correct  and 

Corrected 


6. 

5- 


Average  Eye-Voice 
Span 


I-20 

9.6 

21-40 
41-60 
61-80 

9-3 
"•3 
12.6 

81-100 

14.8 

:;i-40 


41-60 


Si-ioo 


Fig.  12. — Relation  of  errors  in  word  test  paragraph  to  eye-voice -span.     Percentage 
of  words  correct  shown  on  horizontal  axis.    Average  eye-voice  span  on  the  vertical  axis. 

to  the  eye-voice  span.  This  table  is  based  upon  the  percentage  of  test 
words  in  the  paragraph  which  were  pronounced  correctly  at  first  or 
were  immediately  corrected.  It  should  be  read  as  follows:  One  subject 
pronounced  from  i  to  20  per  cent  of  the  words  correctly  and  had  an 


EYE-VOICE  SPAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING  95 

average  span  of  g .6  letter-spaces,  one  pronounced  from  21  to  40  per  cent 
correctly  and  had  an  average  span  of  9.3  letter-spaces,  two  pronounced 
from  41  to  60  per  cent  correctly  and  had  an  average  span  of  11 .3  spaces, 
etc.  The  same  data  are  shown  graphically  in  Figure  12.  A  distinct 
positive  correlation  is  evident  between  a  wide  eye-voice  span  and  a  high 
score  in  reading  the  selection.  A  subject  with  a  wide  span  has  an 
opportunity  to  interpret  the  meaning  in  larger  units  and  is  able  to  get 
the  correct  meaning  before  the  voice  reaches  the  points  of  difficulty. 

Two  facts  stand  out  clearly  as  a  result  of  the  use  of  the  paragraph 
containing  the  test  words.  The  first  is  that  difficulties  in  the  recogni-  ^ 
tion  of  meaning  are  reflected  in  the  character  of  the  eye-movements.^ 
The  second  is  that  subjects  with  a  wide  eye-voice  span  have  less  difficulty 
with  such  material  than  do  subjects  with  a  narrower  span.  Whether 
the  eye-voice  span  is  a  cause  or  an  effect  will  need  to  be  determined  by 
a  careful  analysis  of  the  development  of  reading.  This  question  will  be 
considered  in  the  last  section  of  this  chapter. 

SILENT   READING    OF    TEST   PASSAGE 

The  facts  brought  out  in  the  oral  reading  of  the  test  passage  suggested 
that  a  comparison  with  silent  reading  might  be  of  interest.  With  this 
purpose  in  mind,  photographs  were  taken  of  the  silent  reading  of  the 
same  passage  by  a  number  of  subjects.  Plates  XXXV  to  XXXVII 
show  the  records  of  these  readings.  Plate  XXXVI  gives  the  silent- 
reading  record  of  Subject  H7,  a  good  reader  from  the  sophomore  class. 
This  subject  made  a  great  many  fixations  per  line  all  through  the  selec- 
tion, which  was  due  to  the  direction  to  "read  it  carefully  in  order  to  get 
the  meaning."  The  larger  number  in  the  first  line  shows  the  reaction 
of  the  eye  to  new  material.  Eye-movements  for  the  first  line  of  any 
selection  are  seldom  characteristic  of  the  movements  for  the  selection 
as  a  whole.  The  reading  of  the  next  three  lines  shows  that  the  eye  had 
settled  down  to  a  rhythmic  movement.  Apparently  the  word  "bow" 
in  line  4  caused  no  difficulty. 

In  line  5  the  word  "tears"  caused  a  break  in  this  rhythmic  move- 
ment but  the  correct  meaning  was  evidently  obtained  without  great 
difficulty.  In  the  next  line  the  word  "tears"  caused  considerable  dis- 
turbance, and  several  regressive  movements  were  necessary.  The 
word  "read"  in  line  8  caused  little  trouble.  In  line  9  the  word  "minute" 
apparently  created  a  great  deal  of  difficulty.  The  eye  behaved  in  the 
same  manner  in  this  as  it  did  in  the  oral  selections  at  a  point  where 
the  voice  had  difficulty. 


96  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 


PLATE  XXXV 
SL         3         V    /         iT  6^7 

Tho  bops'  aiTOwa  were  pearly  gone  so 
down  on  the  grass  and  stopped 


they  Sit 


t  JL 


hunting 


^  L 

Over 


ai  the  edge  of  the  wotds  they  saw  Henry 


J.  S    ^         3 


making  a  iow  to  s|  little  girl  who  was  coining 


3     s-  I         V 


S   7 


down  The 


i  10        9 


road.      She  liad  tears   in  te 


r  dress 


f' 


V  j"     IX.     II     S/07  i        ^    ? 


and  also  tearij  in  her  eyes.   Shi  eV\\   PenrJ^  a 


■2.   / 

nobe  which  he 


r 


>^ 


"brought 


over  to 


the  group  of 


3  7     u     H  S    J 


I  3 


to 


/o    9  // 


young  hunters,   He,id  to  the  htys  it  caused 


S"  L         7 


great  excipemenrc.      Aft?r  a  minute  but  rapid] 


examination  of  pheir  weapons   ■tihepr  ran  do 


S  ?  L      S 

wn 


A.  / 


3  7    J/ 10  f      I,      9  S"        IX.  // 

the  valley.  Does  were  iianAini  by  the  edgi 


/     3         s. 


s 


L         7 


of  the  lak(j  making  an  ex(jellent   tjarg^t. 

Silent  reading  of  test  passage  by  Subject  H3 


EYE-VOICE  SPAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING 


97 


PLATE  XXXVI 
a^       I    H  3  S-      S        I       7       f     /I        jc 

were 


/i  J3 


Tne   popi'    arrowi  were  neslrly  gene   so   l|liey  sat 

/    -2-  3  {f.  s  u  7 

down  on  tjhe  grass  and  stopped  hiiniiing.      Oyer 

^     I  3  H  s-  L        7       i 

at  fche   edi^e   of  the  woods   thev  sau  Hanry 


2.      I 


f 


S    7 


ooming 


making  a  b;)w  td  a  littCLe  girl  v'ho  las 

/  -2.  3  i      H-       s      9      7     ■& 

down  the  rojid.      Shd  had   teats   iji  her  liress 

s,    /    3     H   f    ^        6/0  s  7 

and  also  tleai's  in  per  eyes 


7        /I  1^  13     /v 

She  j^ave  Henry  a 

s      v.  7 

of 


nite  which  ha  brought  ovep  to  xhe  f^roup 

^    /  3  H-    L  s  7  S" 

yonng  hunters.      Read   tj)  rbhe  boy^s  it 

grsat   excitement.      Af^ter  a  mife^e  kut    rapid 

^    /  3  L     H-  i"    7  ^     "f  II      ic 

exBiraJLnation  J)f  theiJ  w^apone    tliey  rkn  down 


caused 

"/3  '^ 


the  valley.   Does  were  standing  by  the  edge 
of  the  lake  making  an  excellent  target. 

Silent  reading  of  test  passage  by  Subject  H7.      (** — end  of  film) 


98  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

PLATE  XXXVII 


The  boys*   arroira  wer 


ne  so 

9      7     s     -^ 

H  -5' 


they  sat 


down 


Over 


Lieairly  go 

f      JH         9 

■J  H- 

on  the  gpass  and  srbopped  piimting. 

■L  13  /S  IS- 

I  V  3  L         £■  7 

at  tie  edge  cjf  the  woods  l|hey|  saw 

IS-  //  6  'C  g        //  >■ 

10  I  9  II .a,   is-  3  Ji  7    iz.   L  13 

raaJikig  a  pot  to  a  little  girl  who  was  doming 


2.    I 


Henry 


10  '3  'o  ixi    <j  ir 

Z       I 


6       jr     7 


ihle 


down  the  road.  She  had  bears!  in  I  her  dress 


I      a      3 


\ 


iJi.       9       i 


and  also  tealrs   in  her  eyes.     She    gave 


Henry  a 


17 


'A.       <f       IS- 

.^       I    H  3 

notJe  which  he  brought  over  to  the  ^rpup  |of 

10      //   ^ 


/o 


lox  i    7       5     3"    f       II  H-         tsi- 


2.1  IH 

1X1  10   ^ 9,^{f      IH  1^    H  \t>  if 

citement. 


iHH    13 
I 


yonnglhuntors.      H((! id   to  the  bo 5ns  id  caused 

-  <t   ^     1    ^  i     10 II        7 

i^ffter  a  ijiinuae  bup  rapid 
3'-'^^^     10  i  10      II  '^        y 
^  .  •V  j- 

examliiation  off  th«ir  weapons   they  ran  down 
i  17  IX.  'i  s 

'  9  ^  ^    x^,^  /o  7  if      /s^      II         13 

the  valley.     lope  w^tre  stkndjl ng  by  ijhe  edge 


,\\     S}^7     x  S   i 


/     ^  a.      7  3        t.        ^  ^ 

of  thfe  lihe  mjiiing  an  eioellenll  target, 


X.       X    S^        )t    9 


10 


Silent  reading  of  test  passage  by  Subject  A4 


EYE-VOICE  SPAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING  99 

The  record  of  Subject  A4,  a  good  reader  from  the  college,  is  given 
in  Plate  XXXVII.  This  subject  also  shows  a  characteristic  reaction 
to  the  first  line  of  the  selection,  not  falling  into  a  rhythmic  movement 
until  the  beginning  of  the  second  line. 

The  record  of  line  4  shows  clearly  that  the  word  "bow"  presents  a 
difficulty.  Evidently  the  wrong  meaning  was  used  at  first  and  the  eye 
returned  to  it  several  times  before  getting  the  correct  interpretation. 
The  word  "tears"  did  not  cause  any  marked  disturbance  in  the  reading. 
"Read"  in  line  8  and  "minute"  in  line  9  each  caused  a  radical  change  , 
in  eye-movement.  The  same  kind  of  confusion  occurs  with  these  two 
words  which,  in  the  oral  readings,  accompanied  a  serious  error  in  the 
reading.  In  line  11  the  word  "does"  causes  fully  as  much  trouble  as 
in  any  of  the  oral  selections.  This  shows  that  the  eye-movements  in 
both  oral  and  silent  reading  are  largely  controlled  by  the  recognition  of 
meaning. 


THE   RELATIONSHIP   BETWEEN   ORAL   AND    SILENT   READING 

The  preceding  sections  have  shown  that  the  difficulties  in  both 
oral  and  silent  reading  are  indicated  by  similar  disturbances  in  eye- 
movements.  The  eye-movements  are  evidently  more  directly  related 
to  recognition  of  meanings  than  are  the  eye-voice  spans.  The  reasons 
for  this  can  be  brought  out  more  clearly  if  we  review  the  development 
of  reading  from  its  early  oral  stages  to  the  later  and  more  mature  stages 
of  silent  reading. 

In  a  primitive  or  very  immature  type  of  reading  the  eye  and  voice 
proceed  exactly  together.  The  recognition  of  meaning  also  accompanies 
them.  Progress  at  this  stage  is  made  a  word  at  a  time,  or,  if  the  word 
is  too  complex,  progress  is  by  shorter  units,  even  letters.  The  attention 
span  is  so  small  that  the  eye  does  not  move  on  until  the  voice  has  pro- 
nounced the  word  or  syllable.  In  the  case  of  words  which  are  new  to 
sight,  but  whose  meaning  is  known  when  heard,  the  meaning  is  arrived 
at  only  by  the  sounding  and  pronouncing  of  the  word.  The  oral  pro- 
nunciation is  a  definite  step  in  the  recognition  of  meaning.  A  concrete 
example  of  such  an  eye-voice-meaning  relationship  is  found  in  Plate  VI, 
line  I .  Here  the  reader  is  keeping  his  eye  fixated  upon  the  word  while 
he  is  pronouncing  it  and  getting  its  meaning.  This  pupil,  who  is  a 
poor  reader  from  the  second  grade,  has  a  primitive,  immature  type  of 
reading  habit.  Line  i  of  Figure  13  represents  graphically  such  a  situa- 
tion. The  eye,  E,  the  voice,  V,  and  the  meaning,  M,  keep  very  close 
together. 


^ 


lOO  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

Plate  VIII  shows  the  record  of  Subject  E7,  a  poor  reader  from  the 
third  grade,  who  keeps  his  eye  an  average  of  8  letter-spaces  ahead  of 
his  voice.  This  reader  exhibits  a  little  more  complex  type  of  reading 
habit.  The  attention  span  has  developed  until  the  meaning  can  be 
followed  even  though  the  eye  is  some  distance  ahead  of  the  voice.  In 
Figure  13  this  pupil  is  represented  by  line  2.  The  eye  is  shown  to  be 
8  letter-spaces  ahead  of  the  voice.  Since  this  reader  is  still  very  imma- 
ture and  has  a  narrow  eye-voice  span  it  seems  probable  that  he  still 
relies  on  his  oral  pronunciation  to  get  the  meaning  of  his  words,  and  for 

I  v7 


2  V 


\  Hi.. 


— ^  — —  M-^ 


4 


V  E 


«/ 


V E 

' ~ 

M  y 


M  • 

Fig.  13. — The  development  of  the  attention  span  in  reading 

this  reason  the  meaning,  M,  is  located  a  little  nearer  the  voice  than  the 
eye.  As  the  student  learns  to  read  to  himself  the  meaning  attaches 
itself  more  closely  to  the  position  of  the  eye.  Accordingly,  in  the  other 
lines  of  Figure  13,  M  is  located  nearer  the  eye  than  the  voice.  The 
whole  matter  of  the  location  of  M  in  the  figure  is  merely  schematic 
since  there  is  no  objective  evidence  upon  which  an  exact  location  can 
be  based. 

The  attempt  to  locate  the  position  of  M  presents  a  very  complex 
problem.  Meaning  itself  is  not  a  unitary  and  complete  sort  of  thing 
which  occurs  instantaneously  at  certain  points  through  the  reading. 
After  a  reader  has  mastered  his  vocabulary,   the  recognition  of  the 


EYE- VOICE  SPAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING  lOi 

meanings  of  words,  except  in  the  case  of  new  or  difficult  ones,  doubtless 
occurs  as  soon  as  the  eye  perceives  the  words.  The  recognition  of  the 
meaning  of  words  therefore  might  be  said  to  keep  pace  \\ith  the  eye. 
But  the  complete  meaning  of  a  sentence  or  a  paragraph  is  not  made  up 
by  summing  together  the  individual  meanings  of  the  words.  The 
meaning  of  each  word  in  a  sentence  is  modified  by  what  precedes  and 
follows.  Phrases,  clauses,  or  whole  sentences  are  the  units  and  the 
recognition  of  the  complete  meaning  must  be  in  a  liquid  state  during 
the  reading  process,  being  subject  to  continual  change  and  being  held 
in  the  mind  in  a  tentative  fashion  until  the  end  of  the  unit  of  thought 
is  reached.  To  speak  of  a  location  for  the  recognition  of  such  a  develop- 
ing meaning  as  this  would  probably  refer  to  the  focal  point  in  the  moving 
conscious  state  or  attention  span  by  which  the  mind  "carries  on"  in 
the  reading  process.  That  this  focal  point  or  the  apex  of  the  moving 
attention  span  would  be  nearer  the  eye  than  the  voice  is  also  indicated 
by  the  amount  of  conscious  attention  given  to  these  two  factors.  The 
motor  reaction  of  the  voice  ultimately  becomes  quite  automatic.  It 
follows  along  behind  the  eye  at  a  distance  such  that  the  immediate 
memory  association  with  the  material  perceived  is  kept  intact  but  it  is 
back  in  the  margin  of  consciousness  as  long  as  no  special  difficulty  is 
encountered.  The  principal  part  of  the  attention  span  is  concerned 
with  the  new  material  which  the  eye  is  receiving,  and  with  translating  this 
into  the  meaning  whole.  Consequently  the  focus  of  attention  is  cen- 
tered around  the  eye  and  the  meaning,  while  the  voice  is  largely  left  to 
pronounce  the  words  automatically  with  a  minimum  amount  of  con- 
sciousness accompanying  it.  • 

The  successive  lines  in  Figure  13  represent  increasing  degrees  of 
maturity  of  reading.  Line  3  shows  the  record  from  Plate  XXII  of 
Subject  H5,  whose  average  eye-voice  span  is  12  letter-spaces.  Line  4 
shows  the  record  from  Plate  XIV  of  Subject  E22,  whose  average  eye- 
voice  span  is  19.7  letter-spaces.  Line  5  shows  the  eye- voice  span  of 
Subject  Hi  at  a  fixation  in  the  next  to  the  last  line  in  Plate  XXIa.  At 
this  point  the  reader's  eye  was  46  letter-spaces  ahead  of  her  voice,  which 
indicates  a  high  degree  of  maturity  of  reading  habits. 

The  previous  chapters  of  this  study  have  pointed  out  that  there  is 
a  close  relationship  between  a  good  quahty  of  reading  and  a  wide  eye- 
voice  span.  The  question  was  raised  as  to  which  of  the  two  is  cause  or 
effect.  It  would  appear  that  both  are  effects,  and  that  the  causal 
element  is  the  existence  of  a  general  attention  span  wide  enough  to  hold 
a  large  number  of  words  or  reading  elements  in  the  mind  at  one  time. 


I02  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE- VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

The  preceding  evidence  shows  that  a  poor,  immature  reader  can  hold 
only  a  few  letters  or  words  in  the  focus  of  attention,  while  more  mature 
readers  are  the  ones  who  have  a  wide  attention  span.  Progress  in 
reading  would  therefore  be  a  matter  of  the  development  of  the  span  of 
attention  to  such  a  degree  that  it  would  be  possible  for  the  eye  to  keep 
a  considerable  distance  ahead  of  the  voice  and  thus  provide  a  wide 
margin  for  the  interpretation  of  meaning.  The  extent  to  which  such  a 
span  may  be  developed,  or  to  which  it  is  dependent  on  factors  of  native 
capacity,  will  need  to  be  determined  by  further  experimentation.  The 
problem  would  seem  to  be  worth  a  careful  investigation  through  an 
elaborate  training  experiment. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  to  note  that  Subject  Hi,  who  at  one  point 
had  a  maximum  span  of  46  letter-spaces,  reduced  her  span  to  5  letter- 
spaces  when  the  word  "hallucination"  was  encountered.  The  same 
tendency  to  cut  down  the  width  of  the  span  is  evident  whenever  any 
difficulty  is  encountered.  At  such  times  the  reader  is  placed  in  the 
same  situation  as  a  child,  and  returns  at  once  to  the  same  primitive 
type  of  eye-voice  relationship  which  is  characteristic  of  the  habits 
of  the  immature  reader. 

The  relation  of  oral  to  silent  reading  can  now  be  shown  more 
clearly.  In  such  a  case  as  that  represented  in  Figure  13,  line  i,  the 
attention  span  for  oral  or  silent  reading  would  be  the  same,  since  the 
eye,  voice,  and  recognition  of  meaning  move  along  as  a  unit.  As  more 
mature  reading  habits  are  formed  the  nature  of  the  attention  span 
becomes  different  for  the  two  processes.  For  oral  reading  it  includes 
the  eye  and  meaning  and  also  in  a  lesser  degree  the  voice  which,  because 
of  the  automatic  character  of  its  reaction,  allows  its  conscious  control 
to  be  much  reduced  in  intensity.  The  silent-reading  process  is  entirely 
relieved  of  any  attention  to  the  voice  and  the  whole  of  consciousness 
can  be  focused  upon  the  eye  and  the  meaning.  Such  a  situation  is 
represented  in  Figure  13  by  line  6.  It  cannot  be  assumed,  however, 
that  in  silent  reading  the  width  of  the  attention  span  is  limited  to  the 
space  from  the  eye  to  the  meaning.  The  general  range  of  attention 
must  cover  the  reading  material  by  complete  thought  units,  and  in 
the  silent-reading  process  the  width  of  the  attention  span  must  be 
great  enough  to  do  this.  When  the  reader  cannot  maintain  a  span 
sufficiently  wide  for  this,  he  falls  back  into  more  primitive  habits  and 
pronounces  the  words  to  make  the  ineaning  clear. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  when  dij6&culties  are  encountered  in 
oral  reading  the  eye-voice  span  is  immediately  reduced  to  a  primitive 


EYE- VOICE  SPAN  AND  RECOGNITION  OF  MEANING  103 

form.  The  same  thing  occurs  in  silent  reading.  When  the  difficult 
words  in  the  test  paragraph  were  encountered  in  silent  reading,  the  eye 
returned  to  the  word  causing  the  difficulty,  just  as  it  returned  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  voice  in  oral  reading.  An  example  of  such  a  case  is  shown  in 
Plate  XXXIII  at  the  word  "  read  "  in  line  8.  Here  the  reader  experienced 
a  difficulty  in  interpretation  of  the  meaning  at  that  point,  and  the  eye 
which  has  passed  the  word  "boys,"  returned  to  the  word  "read," 
cutting  down  the  span  from  the  eye  to  the  recognition  of  meaning  to 
zero  in  the  same  manner  as  in  oral  reading.  If  the  difficulty  in  getting 
the  meaning  in  silent  reading  is  sufficiently  great,  there  is  a  reversion 
not  only  to  the  habit  of  bringing  the  eye  back  to  the  location  of  the 
recognition  of  meaning,  but  also  to  the  most  primitive  habit  of  silently 
pronouncing  the  words.  This  reinstates  the  most  primitive  form  of 
reading  where  the  eye,  the  voice,  and  the  meaning  proceed  together. 

The  development  of  the  reading  process  may  therefore  be  traced 
through  three  stages.  First,  the  most  primitive  or  immature  stage  of 
oral  reading  where  the  eye,  the  voice,  and  the  meaning  are  all  focused 
at  the  same  point.  Secondly,  the  more  mature  stage  of  oral  reading 
where  there  is  a  considerable  span  between  the  eye  and  the  voice,  with 
the  recognition  of  meaning  occurring  at  a  point  nearer  to  the  position 
of  the  eye.  Thirdly,  the  stage  of  silent  reading  where  the  reader  is 
entirely  relieved  of  any  attention  to  the  voice  and  where  the  entire 
attention  can  be  given  to  the  eye  and  the  meaning,  making  possible 
the  development  of  a  much  higher  degree  of  proficiency. 

In  chapter  ii  it  was  observed  that  some  good  readers  in  the  fifth 
grade  had  an  average  eye-voice  span  greater  than  many  high-school 
pupils.  The  fact  that  some  pupils  had  developed  such  a  wide  span 
during  the  first  four  years  of  school  would  indicate  a  possibility  that, 
with  sufficient  emphasis  and  appropriate  method,  a  wider  span  could 
be  developed  with  other  pupils.  The  time  for  the  teaching  of  oral 
reading  is  during  the  first  four  school  years.  By  the  time  the  fifth 
grade  is  reached  the  mechanics  of  reading  should  be  mastered  by  the 
pupils  and  a  larger  amount  of  silent  reading  given.  Figure  3  makes  it 
clear  that  a  great  many  pupils  have  not  succeeded  in  developing  a  wide 
eye-voice  span  even  at  the  high-school  level.  If  the  assumption  is 
true,  as  the  evidence  indicates,  that  a  wide  eye-voice  span  is  closely 
related  to  a  wide  attention  span,  and  that  a  wide  attention  span  is 
essential  to  good  silent  reading,  it  is  highly  important  that  a  wider 
eye-voice  span  should  be  developed  if  possible  during  the  first  four 
years  of   school.     It   should  be   developed   during   these  years,  first, 


I04  A  STUDY  OF  THE  EYE-VOICE  SPAN  IN  READING 

because  that  is  the  period  during  which  oral  reading  predominates,  and 
secondly,  because  the  advantage  of  a  wide  attention  span  should  be 
made  available  for  silent  reading  by  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  grade. 

The  fact  that  the  subjects  from  the  freshman  class  of  the  high  school 
showed  a  wider  eye-voice  span  than  the  subjects  from  the  sophomore 
and  junior  years  was  ascribed  to  the  special  training  given  to  this  class 
by  the  English  department.  Evidently  there  were  some  elements  of 
method  in  the  special  training  which  affected  the  eye- voice  span.  These 
specific  methods  should  be  available  for  use  in  the  first  four  school 
grades.  The  results  of  this  investigation  indicate  that  the  develop- 
ment of  the  eye-voice  span  is  a  factor  of  sufficient  significance,  for  both 
oral  and  silent  reading,  to  warrant  further  research  through  a  training 
experiment  making  use  of  specific  methods  having  this  end  in  view. 


INDEX 


Analysis  of  regressive  movements,  59 
Apparatus,  3,  64 
Attention  span,  100 
Automatic  arc  lamp,  3 
Automatic  voice  reaction,  loi 

Beginning   of   sentence,    eye-voice   span 
at,  45 

Cause  of  long  fixations,  86 

Cause  of  regressive  movements,  58 

Confusion  periods,  93 

Continuous  eye-voice  relationship,  64 

Correlations  with  eye- voice  span,  62 

Courtis,  S.  A.,  9 

Development  of  eye-voice  span,  33 
Development  of  reading  habits,  99,  103 
Dictaphone,  6,  7,  64 
Dictaphone  records,  88 
Difficult  words,  effect  of,  69,  81 

Elastic  nature  of  eye-voice  span,  69,  78 
End  of  sentence,  eye-voice  span  at,  43,  50 
Errors  in  test  paragraph,  93 
Eye-line,  65 

Eye-movements-just-preceding- 
regressive-movements,  60 

Fixations  number  of,  53,  56 

Gray,  C.  T.,  3,  4,  41 
Gray,  W.  S.,  7 

Head  line,  4 
Head  movement,  4 

Immature  reading  habits,  86 
Interpretation  of  meaning,  45 

James,  Wm.,  10 
Judd,  C.  H.,  14 

Length  of  fixations,  79 

Letter-space,  9 

Location  of  fixations,  4 

Long  fixations,  79,  83;   cause  of,  86 


-Mature  reading  habits,  62,  63 

Maximum  span,  68,  78 

IMethods  of  developing   eye-\oice  span, 

63,  104 
Minimum  span,  68,  78 

Oral  reading  of  test  paragraph,  88 

Photographic  method,  3,  4,  87 
Position  in  line,  3,  42,  50 
Position  in  sentence,  14,  42,  48 
Primitive  type  of  reading  habits,  102 

Quality  of  reading,  17 

Quantz,  J.  O.,  2,  3,  41,  42,  50,  87 

Range  of  span,  80 

Rapid  readers,  51 

Rate  of  reading,  5 1 

Reading  selections  used,  9,  87 

Recognition  of  meaning,  88 

Regressive  movements,  32,  57 

Relationship    between    oral    and    silent 

reading,  99,  103 
Relationship     between     recognition     of 

meaning  and  eye  movements,  93,  99 

Sampling  method,  69 

Short  fixations,  80 

Silent  reading  of  test  paragraph,  95 

Stages  of  reading  development,  103 

Subjects,  7 

Summary,  anah'sis  of  eye-voice  span,  62 

Test  paragraph,  87 

Thought  units,  50 

Training  experiment,  53,  104 

Types  of  regressive  movements,  58,  59 

Unit  of  measure,  9 

Upward  eye  movements,  24,  68 


Voice  line,  6^ 


los 


S421     1 


3421     1 


i> 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


AUG  3      133? 


f  ^  "^  -^  .   C  v'W--'' 


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FLb  0     i^;i(i 


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ttTTD  B06K  BOX 
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